Ultimate: The Auditions
by CableCarCrash
Summary: Before any newcomer enters the fray, they must show their moves before a panel of Smash Brothers veterans. This is the story of how a video game character becomes a fighter on the battlefield.
1. Prologue

_**Ultimate: The Super Smash Bros. Auditions**_

 **A/N:** Hey there, it's been a while since I've actually written a fanfic! However, I've been closely following the latest news for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, and I figured it'd be fun/a great writing exercise for me to imagine what it would be like if the newcomers had to audition for their spot, I'm sure it's been done many times before. However, feel free to let me know what you think and if you have any characters I should consider featuring, let me know. Doesn't necessarily mean I'll actually write their audition, but it may be a way for me to come up with some interesting situations. Anyway, I'm done rambling. Hope you enjoy!

* * *

 **Prologue**

Over the past two decades, the idea of joining the legendary fighters in the Nintendo universe has become a dream that many aspire to achieve. Characters from different series have traveled far and wide to get the chance to even be considered to be invited to join the leagues of the _Super Smash Brothers_. So, when it was announced that auditions were being held for the newest installment of Smash Brothers, many traveled the distance to go and attempt to claim a spot on the always growing roster.

Each audition season, characters travel to the World of Trophies to show their moves and introduce themselves to a panel of veteran fighters. With every audition season comes more and more insanity. More characters want to audition, meaning more are turned away. While the battles in the arena might be intense, the auditions can be far more brutal: tantrums, threats, meltdowns, everything is on the table.

This year, the Smash Brothers audition committee chose five veterans to help make the decision. All for the most part, were newcomers during different eras of the series. Fox McCloud and Samus Aran, two of the original twelve from 1999, joined the panel to represent the Smash 64 era of the series. Both had been part of the panel since Melee, making them viable representatives of the Smash Brothers series. Many are surprised to not see Mario or Link on the panel. However, their busy schedules tend to make it difficult for them to block off an entire week to help with the audition process.

From the Melee era, Princess Peach of the Mushroom Kingdom was chosen to take one of the five seats for the auditions. This led to surprise from many members of the community, especially considering the fact that she was certainly not a fan favorite in the Smash Brothers community. However, the audition committee argued that Peach provides another female perspective to the panel. Additionally, Peach was a more charismatic choice compared to the more quiet Princess Zelda.

The final two spots on the panel went to Pit, who joined the cast back during _Brawl_ , and Little Mac, one of the most recent additions from _Smash 4._ Much like Samus and Fox, this isn't Pit's first rodeo, he joined the panel during the _Smash 4_ auditions, and many liked to hear his positive reinforcement and constructive criticism, so he was practically a shoe-in. As for Little Mac, he had experience as both a fighter and an assist trophy during his time in Super Smash Brothers, and since the panel does have a say on who is chosen as an assist trophy, Little Mac's experience can give some insight into what works and what doesn't.

However, these five veterans aren't the only ones at the auditions. Luigi reluctantly has shown up to every audition process as the "human punching bag," i.e. the character that the auditioner has to show their moves on. While this is certainly a painful process for Luigi, he hasn't said actually worked up the courage to just say no. Jigglypuff and Kirby are in charge of assisting potential fighters in filling out applications. Many have argued that they both actually make the process more complicated than it has to be, but it seems that no matter how hard anybody tries to convince them to let somebody else take on the role, they put up too much of a fight. Fox and Samus eventually agreed that if somebody can't handle the stress of filling out the paperwork, maybe they just aren't cut out to be involved in the stress of fighting Nintendo super stars.

With the increase in traffic to the auditions, it had become more pressing that there was some type of security. Instead of hiring actual security, the audition committee came up with the next best thing: having Captain Falcon, Donkey Kong, and R.O.B. take on the security role. It seemed to go well during the _Smash 4_ auditions, so nobody expects it to be much worse for the _Ultimate_ auditions.

Finally, Villager and the Wii Fit Trainer decided to take on the role of "hospitality" during auditions. The phrase hospitality is used relatively loosely here, as neither are making a huge effort to accommodate everyone auditioning. However, they try to make sure that auditionees have access to food, water, and practice spaces during the lengthy amount of time that everyone has to wait, and that's the closest to hospitality that anyone can get during what is ultimately a lengthy and stressful time for everyone involved.

With that, the auditions for _Super Smash Brothers Ultimate_ have just begun. The doors are now open, and the crowd of Nintendo and third-party characters fills the giant convention center that hosts the Smash Brothers audition process. May the best fighters win!


	2. The First WAHdition

**Chapter 1 – The First WAHdition**

The first day of auditions were now underway, and it is suffice to say that it was nearly impossible to be fully prepared for an event like this. Characters of different shapes, sizes, species and series were lined up in a giant crowd as Donkey Kong reluctantly opened the glass doors. As the mob rushed into the building, completely stampeding over Donkey Kong, there was one character in particular who was near the front of the line, and that was Waluigi.

Waluigi, donned in his usual purple hat and overalls, with a tennis racket in his hand, was one of the first to enter the building, hastily grabbing an application from Jigglypuffs hand, and hitting anyone in his way with his tennis racket. Needless to say, Waluigi was taking this _very_ seriously.

After grabbing his application, he quickly rushed to an open seat close by the reception desk that Kirby and Jigglypuff were manning. In order to calm down the masses, Jigglypuff's solution was to sing to everyone. In theory this sounded great, however, there was now a giant pile of sleeping auditionees blocking everyone's way.

* * *

Meanwhile in the audition room, the five panelists were finally arriving and getting settled in. Despite this being such a huge and highly discussed event, the room was much less glamorous than one might expect. The table that the panelists were seated at was just a large but simple white folding table, and four of the five seats were just white fold up chairs. The one exception was the seat in the middle, which belonged to Peach. Peach, being the diva that she is, brought in her red throne from her castle, because "if I'm going to be sitting here all day, let me at least feel comfortable." This was something that the other panelists weren't too keen on, but they refused to say anything.

As for the auditionees, they would be performing on a crappy stage that one might find in a public school theater. The stage was a simple black surface with blue curtains, so that the stage managers could have the next handful of contestants that were on deck ready in quick succession. However, before the first audition at 9:00 AM, the judges were given five minutes to get in the zone and relax.

Fox, the self-proclaimed head judge, took his seat at the far left of the table, looking over at Peach who was fixing her pink dress while seated at her throne, "I still can't believe that you actually brought a piece of furniture from your home here."

Peach pursed her lips and crossed her arms, "You would never catch me sitting on a crappy folding chair, ever."

Samus, in her blue zero suit, took her seat in between Fox and Peach, rolling her eyes at Peach's statement. "This is going to be a long day," she muttered under her breath.

Pit and Little Mac, who were on the right side of the table, were hesitant to get involved in what was clearly a pointless argument. "Let's not start arguing now! We're going to have to work together all day." Pit announced, as he took his seat between Peach and Little Mac. Little Mac remained silent. After all, this was his first time on the panel, and didn't want to mess up before his job officially started.

* * *

With Waluigi finally done filling out the forms, he was now ready to take on the judges. He latched onto the application like his life depended on it. After being told by the judges that he would be better off as an assist trophy, he was ready for everyone to kiss his feet and tell him that they regretted making him an item in the first place.

Wii Fit Trainer came into the lobby, blankly staring at the large group of characters sleeping. "Alright, we're ready for the first swarm of fighters. For everyone who is ready, come with me!"

Waluigi joined a rather small group of other fighters and followed behind Wii Fit Trainer. Waluigi, being who he is, made sure to stay closest to Wii Fit Trainer, hoping that he would be the first one to audition. After all, if he goes first, the judges will be completely energized and be much more interested in the idea of having Waluigi join the ranks of all of the other fighters. Plus, he had a lunch reservation at noon and he would not want to miss that.

Only a little over a dozen potential fighters were prepared to follow Wii Fit Trainer backstage, where a couple of seats were available. Backstage was dark, but there was one light up sign reading: "Please remain quiet while you wait your turn. Employees have the right to remove you if you are interrupting the auditions." Waluigi rolled his eyes, "They're calling them employees now?"

Standing to the left of Wii Fit Trainer was Villager, who grabbed everyone's application and headed toward the stage to hand the judges each applicants fighter information.

Wii Fit Trainer looked at the range of potential fighters before her. Besides Waluigi, there was Ridley, Samus's arch nemesis, a couple of older Nintendo mascots, Mario characters, and a rather small batch of third-party characters that she was not familiar with. She looked over at Waluigi, standing right beside her, a little too close for comfort. She squinted her eyes and silently guided him toward the stage, while the remaining handful of characters either sat down, patiently listening to the action on stage, or huddled near the edge to watch the action firsthand.

Waluigi walked out on stage with confidence, his arms waving as if there were a giant crowd behind the five judges. However, he was greeted with collective groans.

"You're back!? Again!?" Fox screeched as Waluigi stood center stage. "Why?"

Waluigi was clearly a little annoyed at the lack of excitement from the "audience," but did his best to hide it by smirking toward Fox. "I thought we were supposed to start with a formal introduction."

Peach put her hand on her forehead, "We already know who you are, Waluigi. Why would we need you to introduce yourself?"

Waluigi smiled and stood upright, "Well, glad to know that I don't even need an introduction. I guess I should talk a little bit about my history as a video game character, right? Look at my application and ask me questions like you usually do."

Fox groaned as he looked through the pile of applications, looking for Waluigi's name at the top of each piece of paper. Samus quickly snatched a few applications out of Fox's hands and found Waluigi's name at the bottom of the pile. With every effort to be friendly to all of the characters auditioning, Samus uttered out a fake friendly voice, "Alright, Waluigi. Why don't you go a little more into depth on your history as a character in the Mario series, since you seem so interested to discuss it."

"Well, I made my first debut into the spotlight back in 2000 as Wario's tennis partner, and ever since I have been invited to all of the Mario parties since Mario Party 3, as well as the Mario sports games, and the Mario Kart games. Additionally, I've been an assist trophy in the past two iterations of Super Smash Brothers, so I feel like that gives me an edge. Plus, I'm loved by so many fans, am I right guys?" Waluigi lifted his arms up and started waving, expecting a crowd of cheers from an invisible audience.

"Why do you keep doing that, it's just us?" Little Mac asked, his head rested against his green boxing glove.

"Because I know that someone, somewhere is watching and I want to make sure that they know that I appreciate every single one of my fans!" Waluigi shouted, once again, to an empty crowd.

Pit reached over the table to look over the application in Samus's hands, he glanced over the application before looking up at Waluigi. "It says here that you were the antagonist of _Dance Dance Revolution: Mario Mix?_ Would you care to explain that to us? I don't think I've ever recalled you mentioning that in the past."

Waluigi smiled, "Well, I stole all of the Music Keys from Truffle Tower and showed my amazing dance moves with the world. I don't know what else to add to that."

"Well, I think that mentioning that actually helps you a little bit. I think we've all agreed that we'd like to see more villain representation in the arena, and if there aren't a lot of villains who audition that could put you at an advantage," Pit stated, putting a giant smile on Waluigi's face.

"Um, he was an antagonist on a game that nobody remembers or cares about," Peach argued. "Besides, why would anyone want to see...that...on the battlefield, anyway?" She asked as she lifted her dainty hand, pointing to Waluigi who was now picking out some of the boogers in his nose.

"Alright, we're getting sidetracked here," Fox stated. He looked back up at Waluigi, "Tell us, Waluigi, why do you want to be on the roster for _Super Smash Brothers Ultimate_? Besides the attention?"

"Isn't that why anybody would want to be on the roster?" Waluigi asked. "Are you really doing this because it's part of some greater good? Of course, I'm doing this for the attention! I want to show that I am an unforgettable Nintendo staple," he announced. He took a pause before muttering, "Plus, if I become a full-fledged fighter, I don't have to keep coming here to audition."

"Alright," Fox stated. "Well, let's bring out our punching ba- I mean, your opponent. Oh, Luigi!" Fox called out.

Entering from stage left, Luigi walked onto the stage. The second he made eye contact with Waluigi, he groaned, "Not you again..."

Waluigi chuckled, "Luigi, I can't wait to finally take you down!" He took out his racket and prepared to hit. Before he was actually able to start fighting, Fox interrupted.

"Before we actually have you show your moves. We'd like you to actually discuss what you bring to the table."

Waluigi looked puzzled, "What?"

"Waluigi, we've mentioned this at every audition since _Melee,_ we want you to explain your moveset to somebody who's new to Super Smash Brothers. What can you do? How is it different from what others can do?"

Waluigi scratched his head with his tennis racket, "Well...um...it's not that different from before. I use my tennis racket to hit my opponents, which is a reference to my first appearance in _Mario Tennis_."

Fox leaned back in his seat and put his hands on his forehead. "Okay, so...let me get this straight...you've constantly been told the past...I don't know... _three_ auditions that you don't have enough moves to warrant becoming part of the roster. We're not necessarily saying you have to have everything figured out, but we need at least an idea of smash attacks, special moves, and maybe a general idea of what you might want your final smash to be. So far, you've just shown us that you can hit people with a tennis racket, and maybe stomp on them. Is there anything new that you have to show us?"

"Well...no...I'm not really sure what to do so I figured you guys could help..." Waluigi stated, reluctantly.

"Waluigi..." Samus began with her condescending tone, "We have so much on our plates right now. Hundreds of characters are about to come on this stage, standing in your place and tell us that they deserve to have a spot on our growing roster. Why would you think we have the time to just give you some moves to try out?"

Waluigi scratched the back of his head with his racket and crossed his legs awkwardly, trying to find the right words to make the judges have pity on him. "I figured that since I've been an assist trophy for over a decade now, you guys would feel as though I've been patient enough to finally get the chance to fight on the battlefield for myself and not just whoever summons me."

Peach pursed her lips, "Waluigi, if it makes you feel any better..."

Waluigi opened his eyes wide and let out his cheesy smile. "Yeah?"

"None of us have any pity on you," Peach declared. "I believe your time is up."

"So does that mean there's no chance for me?" Waluigi asked.

Fox turned to the rest of the panel and nudged everyone closer so they could quietly discuss. Luigi remained on the stage, standing awkwardly near Waluigi. Any time Waluigi tried to look over and smile at Luigi, Waluigi simply received a death glare back.

As the panel disbanded and returned back to their seats, Fox sat up straight in his chair and organized the list of applications. "Waluigi, we appreciate your excitement for _Ultimate_ , however, we still don't think you're ready to be on the roster. Maybe next time."

Waluigi stifled his tears in an effort to avoid sharing his vulnerability. "So does this mean I'm not in the game at all?"

"No...no...not at all!" Samus projected. "We actually are looking to have over one hundred assist trophies, and we think you'd be a great fit in that department."

"Wah...screw you guys!" Waluigi stated as he headed toward the exit, slowly.

"Wait, Waluigi. We need to know if you actually accept!" Pit shouted.

Waluigi turned his head back toward the panel and sighed. "Of course I accept! You think _this_ face and _this_ body belong off the screens of millions of adoring fans? I think not! They'll probably be disappointed that I'm just an assist trophy!"

As Waluigi exited, Fox sighed, "Do you really think people will actually be upset about the decision?"

Without hesitation, Peach responded, "Definitely not. I haven't met a single person who likes that guy."

Little Mac put his head on the table and groaned, "If this was the first audition, I can't imagine how much worse this is going to get."

Wii Fit Trainer came out on stage, "Are you guys ready for the next fighter?"

The five panelists looked at each other, "Give us two minutes to process this one," Fox declared.

* * *

Waluigi walked out of the audition room and was greeted by a green room full of cameras, microphones, and media people from a wide array of Nintendo games awaiting to hear who was invited to join the next _Smash Brothers._ A small green Toad came up to Waluigi with a camera crew behind him. "This is Mushy Shrooms from Mushroom Kingdom News! I'm here with Mushroom Kingdom celebrity Waluigi who just got out of his audition for the next _Super Smash Brothers!_ Waluigi, we all want to know the truth. Did you make it in?"

Waluigi's face remained blank as he looked into the camera and grabbed the microphone, "Well, Mushy, you'll be seeing this face on the battlefield..."

The sounds of cheers filled the tight room, and journalists immediately turned to their cameras, quick to announce the first newcomer to the next game of _Super Smash Brothers._

Waluigi got closer to the microphone, "You'll be seeing me as an assist trophy!"

The cheering immediately stopped, Mushy turned to the cameraman, "Hey, man, stop rolling. Let's pack it up! This is definitely not a story."

Swarms of flashing cameras and media disappeared in the blink of an eye, leaving Waluigi in the green room, now staring at crumbs of food that could have been his. For once in his life, Waluigi was completely speechless. All he could let out was a single, "Wah," before heading out of the building with no fanfare.


	3. Inksplatter

**A/N:** Thanks so much for the comments and support that you guys have given this story so far! Glad people are enjoying it. I do work full time so don't expect updates to always come two days after the prologue and first chapter. However, I will try my best to keep updating as quickly as I can.

* * *

 **Chapter 2 – Inksplatter**

With the first audition already not going as planned, the judges were feeling doubtful about the rest of the day. Peach slouched in her throne and stared at the heels of her shoes. Little Mac took his boxing gloves off of his hands, immediately putting them back on afterward. Fox banged his head against the table and imagined having to spend the next eight hours watching hundreds of other annoying characters like Waluigi come out acting like they're the next best thing. Samus cracked her knuckles and leaned her head against her right fist, slowly closing and opening her eyes.

Pit, on the other hand, felt confident, "Come on guys! That was only the first audition, they can't all be that bad, am I right?" Pit's optimism received no response.

Wii Fit Trainer came back on stage, her shoulders at her sides, standing straight up. She blankly stared out at the panel of already exhausted judges. "We don't have all day, you know. The next person's coming out whether you're ready or not," she said in a sweet and innocent tone.

"Ugh, fine. Bring them out!" Samus announced. Everyone took this quick moment to appear more professional and inviting, as a way to make this next auditionee feel welcome.

* * *

From backstage, a squid-like humanoid paced around, watching the others quietly discuss the Waluigi audition and their immediate takeaways. "Did you realize we had to have a Final Smash planned for this?" One character whispered.

"No, not at all! I didn't realize that these guys meant business," whispered the other.

Inkling couldn't identify these characters, the backstage was dark, and everyone was just a stranger. She was too focused on her own audition to really pay too much attention to her surroundings.

Wii Fit Trainer returned to the backstage and looked out at the crowd of bodies waiting their turn. Inkling who was pacing not too far from the yoga instructor was the first character that caught Wii Fit Trainer's eye. She lightly tapped on the Inkling's shoulder, "Are you ready?"

Part of Inkling wanted to say, "No, please give me five more minutes!" Even after spending all of her time over the past week practicing and doing research on the audition process, she was afraid that her nerves would get the best of her. However, the words, "Yes! I am ready," came out of her mouth, and it was too late to take them back. Wii Fit Trainer dragged her onto the stage, and with the spotlight now on her, the Inkling looked like a dear in the headlights.

"Good morning! Welcome to the auditions for _Super Smash Brothers Ultimate!"_ Fox announced, clicking a ballpoint pen against the table. The table immediately fell apart in that very instant. "Well, I guess I should've seen that one coming. I guess we don't _need_ a table."

Inkling let out a little chuckle, "I'm sorry, I know I shouldn't laugh, but that is pretty funny!" She stated as she started crouching down, her hands on her knees. Inkling let out a powerful belly laugh, which made the rest of the panel start to chuckle as well.

"You know what, it is kind of funny. It's just the sign of how the day is going," Samus responded.

"I don't think I've ever seen Samus smile, so congrats you're already one step ahead of all of us," Peach stated in between her laughs. As she looked back up at the Inkling she started to stare closely at the Inkling, "Wait a second, I think I know you. Didn't we race against each other in _Mario Kart_ before?"

Inkling smiled, "Yup! That was me! I didn't know that you would be at the auditions!"

Peach shrugged, "What can I say? I like to keep people on their toes."

Little Mac looked back and forth between the two, "You guys know each other already?"

"Yeah, her boyfriend invited me to the _Mario Kart 8 Deluxe_ Tournament. I still can't believe I got to join the race. Coolest experience ever!" The Inkling said gleefully.

"Hold up, just wanted to clarify that Mario is not my boyfriend," Peach announced, putting her finger up in the air. "Just because he has rescued me multiple times doesn't mean we're dating. We're just friends!"

"That's not what Zelda told me," Samus said mockingly. Peach didn't pay Samus the time of day, and simply just rolled her eyes as she returned her attention toward the young Inkling standing front stage.

"Alright, I think we're getting a little off topic here," Fox stated, turning his head back to Inkling. "You may know the Princess already, but why don't you introduce yourself to the rest of us. Tell us your history."

Inkling, now much more comfortable, crossed her arms and took a moment to think about what to say, "Let's see...well...I'm an Inkling, and I come from the universe of _Splatoon._ My friends and I love to have these turf wars where we aim to cover an area with as much of our own ink as possible. It sounds a little weird, I'm sure, but it's a lot of fun!"

"Alright, well that sounds awesome! I'll have to try that sometime," Pit said giddily. "So, how would you translate the stuff you do with your friends into moves?"

"I feel like it would be better to show you rather than tell you," Inkling responded.

Luigi, who was napping behind the curtains on stage left, was awoken to a splurge of ink. He slipped onto the stage, covered in orange ink. He stared out to the panel and blinked, without saying a word. Inkling then whipped out her splat roller, leaving behind the inky, orange residue on the stage. Luigi ran through, trying his best to catch the Inkling, but noticed he was moving much slower than he anticipated.

"That's pretty cool, I'm impressed so far," Samus declared with her arms crossed and a smirk on her face. "What else you got?"

The Inkling responded by reaching in her arsenal, grabbing a pyramid-shaped bomb, housing a load of her signature orange ink. She threw it toward Luigi, who was still struggling to move through the ink on the ground. As the bomb exploded, Luigi was now covered in more ink and was dealt quite a bit of knockback, falling back to the wayside, back near the curtains he was resting behind.

Peach, Samus, Pit, and Little Mac started to applaud lightly. The Inkling, now feeling comfortable and confident, walked over to center stage and took a bow. Luigi crawled back toward the center stage, huffing and puffing, trying to catch his breath.

Fox smirked, nodding slightly to indicate that the Inkling had his attention, "Inkling, that is impressive, but we're still looking for more. We need to see your recovery and your smash attacks."

The Inkling did not say a word, all she did instead was jump up into the air, turning into her orange squid form. The panel let out a couple of "oohs" and "ahhs" before the Inkling swiftly returned back to the ground, leaving a little bit of splatter on the ground, thus pushing Luigi back a little bit more. Luigi's "ows" and "owies" were muffled, but everyone in the room could tell that he was in quite some pain.

Inkling, however, showed no mercy. She swung her inkbrush at Luigi, sending him in the air. Inkling did not hesitate afterward to fire a burst of ink from her blaster. Luigi was now flying high, using his Luigi cyclone to allow him to land on his feet. His majestic, rapid spinning, was, however, interrupted by Inkling's up air, a spinning kick that once again kept Luigi flying.

"Alright, alright, in order to make sure that Luigi stays alive, I think we may have seen enough here. The 'show your moves' portion of the audition is done!" Fox said.

Inkling stopped dead in her tracks and returned back to center stage. Her arms behind her back, patiently and quietly waiting to hear what the judges had to say. Luigi, now grunting, crawled his way back to stage left. With every inch he progressed, the louder and more obnoxious his panting became. Everyone's eyes were now directed toward Luigi's wellbeing. "He'll be fine, don't worry about him," Peach said insidiously.

"Alright, well, let's talk Final Smash. I'm sure if you were listening in on the last audition, you probably heard us mention that while we obviously don't have the resources to see your Final Smash, we would like to hear some ideas. We're not saying that we want a fully fleshed out idea, things can be decided in the future if you _do_ get one of the spots. However, we want to know what you're thinking," Fox explained. Grabbing his notebook from the broken down table on the floor.

Inkling put her thumb and pointer finger on her chin, thinking of the best way to explain her idea. "Well, I've been thinking about it a bit, and I have this weapon called the Killer Wail," Inkling started. She paused for a moment, "It looks kind of like a megaphone and basically emits sound waves of ink at anyone who is in the way. Is there anything else I should explain?"

"Nope, I think we have all of the information that we need right there. So, who wants to go first?" Fox asked, leaning back in his seat.

Samus sat up straight, "I have to say, I am very impressed with what I saw here, and I think you are absolutely worthy of a spot in _Ultimate._ Your moves are different and original, and I think people will like seeing you on the Battlefield."

"I wholeheartedly agree with Samus," Peach said sweetly. "I love your moves! They're cool, confident, and I feel like I'm watching a performance. I think you'll be a bit of a force to be reckoned with. Also, I love seeing other women step up to the plate and prove that girls can fight just as well, if not better than the boys."

"Going off of what Samus and Peach have been saying, I think that there is something special about your moveset, and I think it's fun and creative. I feel like I'd actually have to see the Final Smash in action to really have an opinion on it, but it sounds like it'll do a lot of damage and keep fighters on their toes," Little Mac responded firmly.

Everyone turned their eyes toward Pit, who was a little bit silent, "Well," Pit sputtered, "While I do agree with what everyone has said so far, I think there is one major flaw in your moveset and that is that unless you have some kind of limit on your ink, it might seem a little overpowered. While I think it's great to see new fighters be _good_ fighters, we want to make sure this is still balanced. However, I think you would be great for _Smash Brothers Ultimate._ "

Inkling smiled, "Thanks, guys. Does this mean I'm in?"

"Hold up, let me give my comments first," Fox responded, keeping his gaze toward Inkling. "You came here completely prepared, and that's something we like to see. I don't want to repeat what everyone else has been saying because I don't want to sound like a broken record, but I think that because _Splatoon_ is such a new and popular _Nintendo_ universe, it feels like you are a shoe-in for a spot here. So, I say it's time to vote. All in favor to feature the Inkling in _Super Smash Brothers Ultimate_?"

"I," the panel announced. All five hands collective went up at once. The Inkling covered her mouth in shock and started to jump for joy.

"Well, congrats, Inkling! You are the first newcomer in _Ultimate_! How do you feel?" Fox asked.

Inkling paused, taking a few steps back. Her eyes glistened, "I...I don't even know what to say. Thank you so... _so..._ much!"

The panel began to clap. Pit took out a noisemaker from his pocket, creating a loud, pitchy sound that caused everyone to cover their ears.

"Thank _you_ for coming here so prepared. Congrats! Go celebrate!" Fox announced.

"I can't wait to fight you on the battlefield instead of the race track," Peach winked.

The Inkling let out a huge smile and walked out stage right, the area where the other auditionees were patiently waiting. Nobody else congratulated her, possibly out of jealousy. The Inkling walked through crowds of characters, shouting, "I'm in! I made it!" The sounds of chatter now going completely silent.

"Wow...cool...you made it! Nobody cares," Waluigi shouted, sitting down cross-legged on one of the chairs in the lobby.

Captain Falcon walked over to Waluigi and grabbed him by his neck, "How did you even get back in here? I thought you left the building!"

Waluigi gasped for air, "R.O.B. told me if I paid him, I could come back in the building."

Captain Falcon turned his head toward R.O.B., who stood blankly, staring at Captain Falcon holding Waluigi in the air. R.O.B. let out a few beeps and boops, as if to explain himself to Captain Falcon.

"Yeah, I'd probably do that too, R.O.B.," Captain Falcon said, dragging Waluigi out of the building.

* * *

The judges took a moment to prepare for the next audition. Fox and Little Mac tried to make the table stand upright, but no matter what they did, or how hard they tried, the table would fall back down on the floor. Peach facepalmed and looked over toward Villager and Wii Fit Trainer, who were standing by the curtains, waiting to gesture to a character to stand center stage. "Do one of you have another table we could at least borrow?" Peach asked, her tone completely frustrated.

Villager walked toward the panel and revealed a leaf that was in his pocket. He threw the leaf on the floor that transformed into a white, regal table. Fox looked over at Villager, dumbfounded, "You've been holding back on us this entire time? Do you at least have some better chairs too?"

The Villager nodded his head no, and Fox sighed, "Alright, well...I guess we're ready for the next audition."


	4. Too Big To Fail

**A/N:** Thanks for your comments and patience everyone! As you can see, I adjusted the rating from K+ to T as this chapter has some stronger language. Hope you guys enjoy this chapter.

* * *

 **Chapter 3 – Too Big To Fail**

He stood backstage, putting fear into the eyes of his fellow auditionees. He was much larger than everyone else surrounding him, and contrary to popular belief, it was his first time taking advantage of the _Smash Bros_ auditions. Beside him was his translator, a Mii, who was prepared to help provide the judges the opportunity to communicate with Ridley.

Wii Fit Trainer and Villager urged the two to head out now, now that Fox gave the two the okay to go on with the next audition.

* * *

The judges were feeling pretty good right about now, with one really good audition now under their belts. All but Samus, whose scowl gave off the implication that "things can really only go downhill from here."

Once Samus saw her arch nemesis come on stage, with a small Mii with dark skin and dark hair walk beside him, the only words that came out of her mouth were, "You've got to be fucking kidding me. This is not happening right now!"

Peach's blue eyes were wide, and she turned over at Samus to see her sitting still in her seat, absolutely petrified. Fox, Little Mac, and Pit had no reaction on the other hand, putting no thought into the fear and trauma that came back to Samus.

"Welcome to the audition, Ridley, pretty sure we've all met you before in one form or another," Fox said. "This is not your first rodeo at the _Smash Bros a_ uditions, is it?"

Ridley, who stood tall at center stage, turned his head over to the small Mii beside him. The Mii took out a notebook full of talking points, staring directly at his notes and avoiding eye contact with everyone. "Actually, while Ridley has been a boss in previous _Super Smash Brothers_ installments, he never auditioned to be a fighter. Didn't feel the need to until he saw all of the fans beg for him," the Mii stated, in a wooden, unrehearsed tone.

Peach squinted her eyes at the Mii, "I'm sorry...who are you and what are you doing here?"

The Mii looked up at Peach nervously, "Oh, I'm Ridley's translator. Ridley doesn't speak English, so I'm here to be his communicator. I've done this for a lot of previous fighters in the past, such as all of the Pokemon, Duck Hunt, the list goes."

Peach pursed her lips, "Okay, but what's your name?"

The Mii pointed at himself, as if to ask, "you want to know my name?" Without hesitation, Peach rolled up eyes and nodded her head yes. The Mii cleared his throat, "Um...my name is, uh...Guest A," he declared, his voice low, as if to imply that he was embarrassed.

"Oh my..." Peach whispered, "I can't believe your parents hate you. I'm so sorry."

The Mii didn't respond to the comment, "Anyway, as I was saying before I was rudely interrupted," he stated, glaring over at Peach. "Ridley never planned on joining this 'thing,' until he saw all of the outcry on the Internet about him, and here we are today. He's ready to knock your socks off, guys!"

"I don't care how good of a fighter he is," Samus responded brashly, "I will not let that monster who destroyed everything I love into this roster. It's a no from me, and because I was told that I'm not allowed to attack anyone who auditions, I'm out of here!" Samus announced, getting out of her chair and walking out the door, "If any of you let him in, I'm going to seriously maim you." Samus slammed the door behind her, leaving the remaining four to look around at each other.

Ridley paid no mind to Samus, and instead stared at the judges rather menacingly. Pit stared up at the monster, his hear racing, "Well...uh...my first concern is you look rather large, you might take up too much of the stage to join the roster."

Ridley let out a loud roar, the judges muffling their ears. Ridley then crouched down, and took up much less space on the stage. "Oh," Pit muttered nervously, "I guess not. I guess you're not large at all. Forget everything I said, heh."

"Alright, alright, let's actually get down to it. We don't have a lot of time," Fox said. "Let's see what you've got."

Ridley let out another loud and aggressive roar. Luigi hid backstage, too terrified to even get involved. "I'm not letting that monster treat me like a punching bag."

Ridley turned his head over toward Guest A, whose emotionless eyes suddenly opened wide. Ridley started breathing a fireball at the Mii. He took the hit and fell down to the ground. Ridley stood still for a moment and started charging up, and let out a larger stream of fire, all at his employee. Ridley showed no mercy as he then grabbed Guest A and dragged him across the stage.

The four judges watched in shock as Ridley continued attacking the Mii without any mercy. The stage began to rumble with every step Ridley took toward Guest A, throwing another punch without any hesitation. Ridley then paused as he flew up into the air, Guest A in his direct line. Guest A flew up in the air and slammed, face first, onto the hard black flooring of the stage. As Ridley landed, however, he smashed through the stage floor. Leaving a giant gaping hole right on center stage. Ridley was now stuck, completely helpless.

"Samus would love to see this," Peach giggled, taking out the smartphone in her pocket and taking a photo of the hole Ridley created for himself.

"I didn't know you had a phone," Pit responded. "How come you never told me, I could have given you my number!"

Little Mac turned his head toward Pit, "Why would she need your number?" Little Mac asked.

Pit started to sweat nervously, scratching the back of his head and letting out an uncomfortable laugh. "Oh...I don't know, maybe something work related? I mean, we're technically co-workers..."

Fox covered his head into his hands and grunted, "Alright, well, the stage is destroyed now, and we're going to need to take some time to fix that, so I think you're done. Guest A, if you could just explain the Final Smash real quick, then we'll give our critiques."

Guest A, in a semi-comatose state, picked up his head from the floor, "H-he throw-throw-throws y-y-you on Sam...ooses...shi-sh-ship and th-th-then blo-ws i-it up," he finally let out before passing out on the ground.

"Can someone get a medic, I think he needs to go to the hospital," Little Mac shouted, hoping someone would hear him.

Wii Fit Trainer ran out with a stretcher, and threw Guest A on before running out. As she rolled out with the Mii, heading toward backstage, a loud thud was heard. Wii Fit Trainer sighed before trying to lift up the Mii once again, the thud coming from backstage once again. "I might need some help," the trainer shouted.

"Just get him out of here, I don't care how you do it at this point," Fox yelled, clearly very annoyed.

The door hissed open, and the sound of a body dragging on the floor eventually silenced the auditorium. Fox looked at his fellow judges, and motioned toward the helpless monster who was trapped on the stage. With Samus not in the room, Fox certainly looked detached from the other three panelists.

"I'll start," Little Mac sighed. "To put this simply, you are pretty terrifying."

Ridley let out a loud roar, the sound pushing Samus's weightless chair back toward the back of the room. Little Mac blinked, "I'm going to assume you took that as a compliment." The room went silent for a second, as Little Mac tried to think of what to say, "I guess I could see you doing pretty well on the Battlefield. I don't really know what else to say, but I think you should join the roster."

Pit sighed, "I don't know...you kind of scare me..." Ridley let out another roar, and attempted to escape from his pit, but ended up struggling way too much to fight back. Pit's eyes widened, "But I don't want you to kill me so I will say that you should probably join the roster because you're not like anyone else!"

Peach tutted, "Unlike these boys, you don't scare me. I've seen plenty of monsters in my life," Peach crossed her arms and smirked. "Yeah, you seem pretty aggressive, but I have a feeling that you won't be the best fighter on the Battlefield. I guess we'll have to wait and see, but you're large so that makes you easier to attack. Even though you beat the living shit, pardon my French, out of your employee, which was pretty cold by the way, you still showed us that you don't have much range. So, while I'm impressed, I'm not _that_ impressed."

Fox nodded, "Thanks Peach, for actually giving a critique unlike the other two. Now, as head judge, I believe it is finally my turn."

"Hold up," Little Mac stood from his seat, "Who said you were head judge? I thought we were all equal here!"

"I've been on the panel longer than all of you have," Fox declared. "You all stood in front of _me_ once to get a spot in _Super Smash Brothers._ "

"Samus has been here just as long, though," Little Mac argued.

"Yeah, well where is she? I don't see her here. I've sat through every single _Smash Brothers_ audition ever, I think I've earned my role."

"Whatever, you definitely made up that title for yourself," Peach mocked. "But go on, tell the fire-breathing monster what you think of him?"

Fox rolled his eyes, "Ridley, I know Samus is against having you join _Super Smash Brothers_ , but you've technically been involved since _Brawl_ anyway. You've been a boss that past two iterations and you've kept us all on our toes at least once or twice. I think you've shown us today that you're ready for that promotion. All in favor for Ridley, say I!"

"I!" The three male judges announced. Fox looked over at Peach, who remained silent. "Peach are you the only one who opposed?" Fox asked.

"I don't oppose, I'm just on the fence," Peach stated silently. "We were told that we needed to be very selective on who would get in because we already have a large roster to begin with."

"Well, there are three of us that said yes, so he's in anyway," Fox said. "Congratulations, Ridley, you are our second newcomer in _Super Smash Brothers._ "

"Oh, Samus is going to _love_ hearing that," Peach said sarcastically.

Ridley roared and smashed his arms against the stage, rattling the eardrums of everyone in the auditorium.

"Alright, so how do we get Ridley out of here?" Little Mac asked. "We need to move on with the next audition, don't we?"

Fox sighed, "We have no time but take a little break and have someone come and fix the stage. Maybe we can take a lunch break?"

Peach checked her phone, "Well, it's only 9:30 a.m., so maybe not a lunch break. However, I'm always down for a second breakfast. Something that's not just a granola bar!"

Pit scratched his head, "Well if we really want to eat, couldn't we just go to the cafeteria? We wouldn't have to pay for our meal and it's literally down the hall!"

The other three laughed in his face as they walked out of the auditorium. "I am not eating the shitty food in that cafeteria, I need to get out of here," Peach laughed.

* * *

Wii Fit Trainer stood outside of the building, hanging on to the stretcher that Guest A was laying on. The Mii, who now regained consciousness, stared up at Wii Fit Trainer's pale face. He blinked his eyes and opened his mouth. His body was in absolute pain, and could not move a muscle without feeling another surge of agony. "What happened?"

Wii Fit Trainer smiled, "Good! Glad to see that you're still alive. Ridley attacked you during his audition. You really took a beating out there!" Her voice was cheery, which made Guest A feel uneasy. "We're bringing you to the hospital and paying for your bills so that you don't sue us!"

Guest A laughed, "Ridley's going to pay for what he did to me!"

Captain Falcon rushed outside to see Wii Fit Trainer waiting for the ambulance with the Mii, to the left of them was the line of characters still waiting for the crowd in the lobby to disperse so that Kirby and Jigglypuff can give them their audition slips. "Attention everyone! The audition room is currently being repaired, so we are going to going on a brief hiatus for the morning! If you don't want to wait forever, you can come back on the line around 2:00 p.m."

The crowd groaned, but only a few actually decided to get off the line, mostly out of fear that if they got off the line, they'd have to wait longer afterward.

Captain Falcon walked into the lobby to see the crowd filling out forms, checking the time, and tapping their foots. "Attention guys! The audition room was damaged during an audition and is currently being repaired," Captain Falcon repeated. "We should be good to go around 2:00 p.m. In the meantime, since you're in here, we do have food in the cafeteria!"

The crowd in the lobby slowly dispersed, most heading toward the cafeteria, but a couple of others remained seated by the front desk. The sounds of old video game music from previous _Super Smash Brothers_ played softly in the background. With the lobby now a little less hectic, R.O.B. and Donkey Kong opened up the velvet rope in front of the building, allowing another large wave of characters into the room. Captain Falcon rubbed the sweat off of his forehead, "This is such a mess," he said to the other two guards.

* * *

Meanwhile backstage, Samus sat in the judge's break room next to the water cooler. She held a paper cup, swiftly drinking the water, angry that the fellow judges who allowed for Ridley to audition.

Fox opened the door, with the others following him, "Hey Samus, we're going on a little break. Want to get food with us?"

"Wait. First, how did the audition go? You didn't let Ridley in, did you?" Samus asked with a sense of wrath in her voice.

Peach took a seat near the mirrors, and fixed her makeup, "Well, _I_ didn't, but maybe you should ask the guys what they said."

Samus turned toward Little Mac, Pit, and Fox who were still standing at the doorway. "You...you did _what?_ " Samus walked slowly toward the guys, crushing the paper cup in her hands.

"We can explain," Pit said, slowly backing away. "He was kind of good, and–"

"And what?" Samus interrupted. "I warned you guys what I'd do to you if you let him in, didn't I? You're going to pay the price."

"Hey, hey, hey, why go after us? This means you'll be able to beat the shit out of Ridley on the battlefield, there's more representation for _Metroid._ It's not just you anymore!" Fox said, attempting to sound as calm as can be.

"I didn't want more _Metroid_ representation, Fox!" Samus shouted. "I wanted Ridley to be out of my hair, and now I'll have to deal with him all the time thanks to you three!"

Samus took out her paralyzer, preparing to attack Fox, Little Mac, and Pit. However, Peach stood up and smacked the gun out of Samus's hand and onto the folding chairs near the mirrors. "Why take it out on these guys, when Ridley is stuck in the stage in the auditorium, completely helpless. This is your window of opportunity," Peach explained as she let out a sinister smirk.

Samus looked over at Peach and smiled, "You mean. He's completely helpless?"

"As helpless as a giant fire-breathing lizard thing can be," Peach responded. Samus turned her head back toward the guys, who were smiling and nodding vigorously.

Samus picked up her paralyzer, "You three are on my shit list," she declared as she pushed them out of the way, "You guys can go eat without me, I'm going to get my Power Suit and _destroy_ Ridley."

The room was now silent and the four sat down at the chairs dispersed throughout the space. Each of them thought about where to eat during the open chunk of time they now had.

"I don't know, maybe we could go to McKoopas? They do have good fries!" Pit said lazily.

"Ugh, I don't want to eat fast food. We have all of this time, let's go somewhere nice," Peach argued.

"Most nice restaurants aren't open at 9:45 in the morning," Fox said as he checked the clock.

"Okay fine," Peach rolled her eyes. "I guess I'll settle for McKoopas unless someone can come up with something better.

* * *

Samus opened the door to the audition room in her orange Varia suit, the table and chairs completely empty, her steps were now much louder and had a slight echo. She looked up to see Ridley still in the pit, roaring loudly as he tried to escape. Samus walked onto the stage, toward the left of Ridley. Ridley tried to reach for Samus, but his arms were too small to reach. Samus aimed her arm cannon at Ridley and began charging. One the shot was completely charged, she fired at Ridley's head, shooting Ridley out of the hole and crashing into stage right, completely squishing Luigi, who was quietly playing on a video game near the stage right curtains.

Samus smirked, and without saying a word walked out of the room. Ridley got off of Luigi and flew out through the ceiling, sending the tiles down to the ground. Luigi flinched as the tiles slammed onto the floor, right in front of him. He sighed, now knowing that was just another thing that he would have to try and fix before this afternoon.


	5. Sing Mii a Song

**A/N:** Thanks everyone for the reviews, I truly appreciate them! Special shout out to OmniFanGhost for commenting on every chapter, I'm glad you're enjoying it so far, and I appreciate the encouragement. I'm going to hold off on Daisy for a while just because I wanted to do a couple of joke chapters similar to Waluigi, just because that chapter was my favorite to write so far.

Will also definitely keep those characters in mind Smasherfan88, I don't actually follow Xenoblade or Metroid all that much so I'll have to do some research on them if I do write a chapter about either Sylux or Mumkhar, but we'll certainly see what happens!

* * *

 **Chapter 4 – Sing Mii a Song**

With the repairs on the stage leaving the rest of the morning auditions a wash, the crowd started to get restless. Kirby and Jigglypuff were slammed with files to hand out, Captain Falcon, R.O.B., and Donkey Kong were trying to keep the crowd under control, and four of the five judges spent the rest of their morning at McKoopas.

They all returned to the audition room, with all of their remaining fries, chicken nuggets, and milkshakes in tow to see the hole that Ridley created was fixed up. Unfortunately, they were disappointed to see that that opening was only covered up with a piece of plywood.

"Luigi!" Peach called out.

Luigi ran out from backstage and scuffled over to the center. He put his weight onto the plywood, which caused it to snap in half, causing Luigi to fall into the hole that Ridley had created earlier.

"Well, glad we tried that out. Better fix it, Luigi, and fix it quick! I'm sure everyone out there is getting impatient," Fox declared.

Samus entered the room, and took her seat, looking at the fast food that was all over the table, "You bought all of this food for just the four of you?"

"We actually saved some for you," Pit smiled, grabbing the small clamshell container that housed McKoopas delectable, most likely unethical, chicken nuggets. "Feel free to take whatever you like!"

"The guy at the cash register recognized us and said that our lunch was on the house!" Little Mac said, his fists slamming on the table.

Samus rolled her eyes, "What a kiss up," she muttered, grabbing a couple of the fries. "Hopefully we'll get squared away again soon."

Fox cocked his head toward Luigi, "We will if Luigi fixes this quickly."

Luigi frowned and grabbed a hammer and more pieces of plywood. Only time will tell if this will work.

* * *

Captain Falcon started trying his best to entertain the crowds by interviewing a couple of people in the crowd. He started in the cafeteria, where seats were so filled up that many were sitting against the wall, attempting to eat their lukewarm burgers. The dull off-white walls and the blue and white floor tiles were an eye-sore, but the colorful clash of auditionees at least took one's attention off of the sad, ugly room.

Captain Falcon went over to one of tables where a princess with brunette hair and a blue humanoid bounty hunter were sitting across from each other, trying their best to avoid eye contact. "Well, it looks like we have two future _Smash_ ers right in front of us. What are your names and are you looking forward to showing your moves?"

The princess turned toward Captain Falcon and smiled, "Of course I'm excited, I get to see my best friend and inspiration Princess Peach, as well as my favorite sweetie, Luigi," she squealed. "Oh, and I'm Princess Daisy, by the way. I'm sure we'll be seeing more of each other."

"Alright, alright, we'll see about that," Captain Falcon smirked. He turned his body toward the large humanoid, metal figure, who was staring at his food, but was not actually eating it, Captain Falcon energetically shouted over the crowd, "What about you? Who are you? What's your story?"

The figured looked up, "I'm Sylux, and I'm here to take down Samus. That's all I'm going to say."

Captain Falcon shrugged and walked away. Over toward the opposite side of the table sat a crowd of Pokemon Trainers, all having a lively conversation. "Hey, I believe we already have the Pokemon Trainer on the roster, I don't think we have room for another."

The trainers all looked at each other and laughed, "Oh, we're not the ones auditioning," one of the girls explained. She fixed her short brown hair and adjusted the light blue visor on her head. "I've been auditioning my Furfrou specifically so she could become the new Pokemon in _Smash Bros,_ " she explained, her voice sounding pompous and uninviting. "We've _all_ been training our Pokemon for this moment."

"Alright, well, I'm gonna go then," Captain Falcon said, quickly avoiding any additional contact with the young trainers. However, he caught his eye on a huge blue and white polka dot bow on the opposite side of the cafeteria and headed toward the object. As he approached closer, he saw a Mii with pale skin, blue eyes, and long, straight red hair. She was in a poofy blue and white that matched the bow on her hair.

Captain Falcon tapped her on the shoulder while she was eating a hot dog. She looked up and jumped, "Oh my gosh, hi! Who are you?"

Captain Falcon scratched his head, "You don't know me? Like, at all?"

The Mii contorted her face, trying to figure out if she met this man in her life, "Nope. I don't think we've met before, but I'm Lindsay, a Mii Pop Star!"

"Well, we already have Mii Fighters in _Super Smash Brothers,_ why should we add another type of Mii Fighter?" Captain Falcon asked.

"Wait, Miis are already on the roster?" Lindsay asked, she took a moment to think before the lightbulb went off in her head. "Oh wait, I've been in a couple of tournaments during _Smash 4_. I was the one who punched people. That was so funny. One time I punched my friend Cattie in the face and I left a mark! I was so crazy," she rambled.

Just then, Wii Fit Trainer came into the cafeteria, "Attention potential smash participants, we're finally ready to continue the auditions."

At that moment, the cafeteria became a madhouse. Everyone immediately left the tables (and the food) they were sitting at and rushed over to Wii Fit Trainer. Captain Falcon grabbed Lindsay's hand and walked over toward the trainer, who was now drowning in a sea of auditionees.

Villager came into the cafeteria, and noticed the giant mob surrounding Wii Fit Trainer. Without hesitation, Villager took out the megaphone in his pockets. Captain Falcon and Lindsay, who were now near the exit, rushed over to Villager. Captain Falcon grabbed the megaphone and turned on the button, releasing a loud, unpleasant sound and causing everyone to groan and cover their ears, "Attention, everyone! We get that you want to get your audition done and over with, but there are way too many of you, and we'd appreciate if you would please refrain from charging at any of the employees who are trying to help you!"

The room was silent, and everyone was now standing in an orderly fashion. He tapped Lindsay on the shoulder, and whispered, "You can follow Villager to the audition room right now since you're literally right next to me."

"Hooray! Thanks, Mario!" Lindsay proclaimed, jumping up in the air.

She walked behind Villager out of the room, Captain Falcon scratched his head once again, "God this girl is strange."

* * *

Samus took another bite of the chicken nuggets that Pit handed to her, "Wow these are so good," she announced, her mouth full.

"Hey, don't hog all of the food," Little Mac argued, reaching for a pile of french fries.

Samus glared over at Little Mac, "I didn't have lunch. You all did! I think I'm allowed to eat all of this food if I want."

Luigi made some final touches on the stage. The plywood was now covering up the hole completely, and was nailed to the ground. Peach pursed her lips, "I still don't think that's going to work, but what do I know about construction?"

As Luigi stood up, Lindsay walked out on the stage. Luigi looked puzzled, "I don't think we're ready yet, miss."

Lindsay looked over at Luigi, puzzled, "That's strange. Mario told me to come do my audition now!"

Foxed cocked his head, "Mario told you?"

"Mario isn't here, so who told you?" Peach asked.

"He was like, really tall, and had a red helmet on. He was really muscular," Lindsay said.

"You mean Captain Falcon?" Samus asked. "Captain Falcon is here, and it would make sense if he sent you in here to do your audition."

"Oh," Lindsay said slowly, "Yeah, I guess it was that guy. He told me to come in here. My name is Lindsay, by the way!"

"O...kay then," Fox said, eyeing Lindsay up and down, "You do realize Miis can already fight in _Super Smash Brothers_ right? You don't need to audition."

"No, I know," Lindsay said, "I've done a couple of battles in _Smash 4_ , but I want to be the one to introduce a new type of Mii Fighter!"

"Oh, tell us more," Pit said, leaning in his seat. He was clearly the only one invested, as everyone else was leaning back in their seats.

"I'm the Mii Pop Star!" Lindsay squealed. "You see, I went on this journey to take down the Dark Lord in _Miitopia,_ and now I want to use what I've learned as a pop star and put it in _Smash._ "

The judges all looked at each, their eyes squinted. It was clear that they were all a bit skeptical of this girl. Fox looked back up at Lindsay and put his fingers on his chin, "Alright, well, let's see what you got."

Lindsay took a few steps closer to the center stage and looked up at the bright lights above her, she breathed in and let out an extremely out of tune note. A music note appeared as she sang the note, and darted after Luigi, who was running around the stage trying not to get hit. Lindsay smiled, "That's my neutral special right there."

Peach grinned as her arms caressed the arms of her throne, "That was kind of interesting, what else is there?"

"Interesting? I feel like my ears are bleeding!" Samus argued. "I don't want to see anything else!"

Lindsay leaped in the air, completely ungracefully, while Luigi was still running from the music note around stage left. He immediately stopped in his tracks as he saw Lindsay leap in the air, heading his way. Her foot collided with his chest, and he tumbled onto the ground. The music note then hit him afterward right in the face, causing him to groan in pain.

"Ok, you know what? I think I've seen enough to have made my decision," Fox said. "I don't know about you guys!"

Samus turned her head toward Peach, Pit, and Little Mac and scoffed, "I'm certainly fine with not seeing anymore."

Little Mac nodded in agreement, "I also feel like I've made my decision."

"Hey, wait one second!" Pit argued, "We've been giving everyone else a chance to show all of their moves. I don't think it's fair to this girl, um..." Pit stalled, pointing to Lindsay, trying to figure out her name.

"Lindsay, that's my name! You can also call me the Mii Pop Star," Lindsay said, cheerfully, lacking the self-awareness to notice that the judges weren't that interested.

"Yes, Lindsay!" Pit exclaimed, "I think that we should at least see any other moves she has, and find out what she wants to do for her Final Smash. She's been waiting all day for this, so let's not feel like she's been wasting her time here!"

"Are you kidding me?" Samus argued, "This is obviously a waste of time for us too! We know that we don't need any more Mii Fighters on the roster, why bother sitting here to see some dumbo try and prove that we need another lame-ass Mii?"

Peach stuffed a milkshake in both Pit and Samus's faces just to shut them up, "Look, let's at least make a compromise here. Lindsay, tell us your Final Smash, and then we'll make a decision."

"Hmmm," Lindsay pondered. "I guess if I had to choose, I would appear on a stage, starting singing and dancing to a random song, and then it blows everyone away!"

"Wow, that's a really stupid Final Smash," Peach said sweetly.

Lindsay jumped up and clapped, "Ohmigosh, thank you, Zelda," she responded genuinely.

Peach sighed and sat back in her seat, "Alright. I tried to give her a chance, so who wants to speak first?"

Little Mac spoke up first, "I don't think it's necessarily a bad idea, it's certainly creative. I just don't think it was well thought out enough that it convinced me, or probably anyone else here, that we needed another class for the Mii Fighters."

"I agree," Peach said. "You are certainly very cute, and your moves seemed cute. However, I think we have the three Mii Fighters, and we're not considering any other types of Miis. You are still certainly allowed to participate in _Ultimate_ as a Brawler, Swordfighter, or Gunner, however."

Samus sipped on her chocolate milkshake before speaking, "Yeah, this was just dumb and a waste of time. I don't have anything else to say that hasn't been said."

"Well, I think you're creative, and we don't have anyone on the roster who sings, so I like it a lot," Pit said.

"Um, Pit, we do have Jigglypuff, so you're wrong," Peach pointed out quietly.

"Oh," Pit said, his face flushed with embarrassment. "Forget what I said then, heh heh. I still like it though!"

"Alright," Fox said. "As it has already been said, we have our three Mii Fighter classes, and we really don't need any others. So, all in favor of the Mii...Pop Star...say I."

"I!" Pit said, jumping out of his seat. Lindsay smiled and clapped her hands, happy to have received some praise from Pit.

"All oppose," Samus snarled.

"I!" Everyone else responded.

"Aw man," Lindsay sighed, "Well, I guess that's it for me."

"Yeah, oh, it's too bad," Samus responded, facetiously. "Guess you'll have to watch the matches on the TV."

"No way, cause I'm coming back as a Mii Brawler, baby!" Lindsay shouted, "I'll see you guys on the Battlefield soon!"

As Lindsay walked out of the room, Samus looked over at Fox, her head in her hands, "So we're stuck with her anyway?"

Fox sighed, "I'm afraid so, Samus...I'm afraid so."

"She said she fought us back in _Smash 4,_ but I don't remember her," Peach whispered. "Who did she fight? And where?"

"I dunno, we all probably fought her." Little Mac shrugged, "It's just that all Miis kind of look the same to me, and I've never really talked to any back then."

"Well, now we'll all remember _her_ ," Samus said, her face contorted to show her disgust.

* * *

"Woohoo, I'm in _Smash Ultimate_!" Lindsay announced as she walked across the halls. The crowd of characters all glared at her, but Lindsay didn't pay any attention to the faces that were made.

Captain Falcon walked over to her, completely stunned, "You actually did it? There's a new Mii Fighter class?"

"Oh, no, not at all!" Lindsay said, laughing. "But I'm a Mii so I'm already in _Smash Ultimate_! Can't wait to see you there, Marth!"

Lindsay skipped out of the building, celebrating her fake victory. Captain Falcon looked stunned and scratched his head, "I don't even know where to begin with what she just said," he muttered to himself. He gathered up a crowd of characters waiting on line by the doors to backstage. "Alright, time for our next group to go out there!"

"Oh, this is wonderful. How funny is it that all of us are going out back to back to back?" A voice asked.

Captain Falcon turned his head slowly to see a Mii with dark eyes and short hair wearing a magician outfit, surrounded by a giant line full of other Miis who were also wearing strange costumes that ranged from cats to cheerleaders to chefs. Captain Falcon fell to his knees and screamed, "Why are there so many Miis here?"

His voice could be heard all throughout the building. A large door to Captain Falcon's right opened up, and Samus entered the waiting area. Crowds started cheering Samus's name. Captain Falcon gave her Villager's megaphone. Samus smiled at Captain Falcon as she started to shout into the megaphone, "If you are a Mii, please get the fuck out! Miis are already in _Super Smash Brothers_ and we don't want to see you try and pitch your shitty Mii class to us. Go home!"

All of the Miis sighed as the trudged out of the building. The crowd now slightly less crazy then it was before. "Alright, well, that means it's time to find the next group to audition then," Captain Falcon said, "Thanks Samus, we might not be as behind schedule as we once were now."

"Why are you thanking me? I'm the one that actually has to see these losers audition," Samus said as she went back into the audition room, slamming the door behind her.


	6. Pokémon and Tiaras

**A/N:** Hey guys! Thank you for your patience, and your reviews. Once again thanks OmniFandomGhost for the nice, encouraging words, I appreciate them a lot!

Lasatar, that's a pretty interesting suggestion that I've never considered. I haven't really played Xenoblade, but now I'm kind of interested in exploring that concept. Also thanks to galvatron! Glad you're enjoying it. I don't necessarily take requests, however, if you have suggestions I would greatly appreciate hearing them.

I meant to have a chapter up sometime last weekend, but I was a little under the weather and was not really in the zone to write this. For this chapter, I tried to do something a little bit different, sort of like a montage like the ones you may see on most talent shows on TV. It's a little shorter than most of the chapters here, and I'm not super crazy about it, but I thought that this concept was kind of humorous and would like to see what you guys think! Enjoy!

* * *

 **Chapter 5 – Pokémon and Tiaras**

Throughout the first day, the judges were faced with many dulling auditions, and a good chunk of those of those featured Pokémon and their overbearing trainers.

* * *

Backstage, the Wii Fit Trainer was standing beside a young male trainer wearing a royal blue jacket, navy pants, and black boots, watching his Chespin practice his moves before they both walked on stage. He turned over toward the Wii Fit Trainer smugly, "He's gonna get on the roster I know it."

The bipedal, brown mammalian creature was walking around the stage aimlessly, making growling noises to intimidate its opponents.

Wii Fit Trainer looked at the trainer and smiled blankly, "Okay, great! Good luck." She pushed the trainer and his Chespin on stage.

Immediately upon seeing the duo, Samus sighed and sat back in her chair, "Great, a Pokémon audition. These are always the worst."

Little Mac leaned in to look at Samus, "I'm sorry, why are these the worst?"

Samus turned her head, "The trainers always act like their baby is the next big thing, and start throwing a hissy fit when we think they should just be a Pokéball summon, and they all go back to back to back, so be prepared to spend the rest of the day sitting through these."

Attempting to be cordial, Fox smiled up at the trainer, "Good afternoon! Thanks for your patience. I see you are auditioning your Pokémon today."

"That's right," The trainer responded. "I've been training my Chespin for this moment for a while now, and I think he has a chance to be _the_ Pokémon that joins the roster this time."

"Chespin, huh? What makes you think we need another _X and Y_ Pokémon here?" Peach asked, looking very unimpressed. "I mean, we already have Greninja, a fully evolved starter Pokémon from the same iteration. What makes this Chespin so great?"

The trained smiled, "Well, he's _my_ Chespin. He's special, and he's a great fighter."

Little Mac immediately interjected, "That's a little vague, though. I get that he's your baby, but what can he do?"

"And if he's such a great fighter, why haven't you evolved him to become a stronger fighter?" Samus asked.

"Listen," The trainer said, starting to get heated up, "Why should I tell you when I can show you?"

Fox, giving the benefit of the doubt, picked up his clipboard and looked up at the trainer, "Alright, go!"

The trainer smiled and took a step back, "Alright Chespin, use-"

"I'm sorry, what do you think you're doing?" Samus asked. Her grin was sinister, she was clearly ready to go in on this guy.

The trainer stood up straight, looking puzzled. He scratched the back of his head, "I'm telling him what moves to use?"

"He's the one who's going to be in the game. You aren't," Samus started. "If he's such a good fighter, he has to show us his moves without your help. Otherwise, we're not going to see him as anything more than a Pokéball character."

"Which is something that he already was in _Smash 4,_ " Fox continued. "Meaning that since I've already seen him as that, I can't really imagine him being anything more than an item, essentially."

"But Chespin is so much more than that," The trainer announced, fixing his hat. "I really want to see him do great things! I can't believe you'd typecast him like this."

Peach crossed her arms and scoffed. "Alright, then. Have him show his moves. Prove us wrong!"

The Chespin stood face to face toward the trainer. The trainer nodded as if to give the Pokémon the right away to use his attacks. Chespin jumped up and down a couple of times before throwing a seed at his trainer, which eventually exploded right in front of everyone. The judges did not respond with any type of shock or awe. Afterward, Chespin turned over toward the judges, his mouth smiling wide as he chanted his own name.

"I think that Chespin would be great as a Pokéball summon. Not really a lot here to work with," Pit smiled. "Sorry, but thanks for coming out. It's still important to have the Pokéball and assist trophy characters as well."

"Alright, then," Fox announced, "All in favor of making Chespin a Pokéball character, say I!"

"I!" Everyone shouted in agreement.

Peach clapped, "Well, congratulations then! Glad to see Chespin back in the next _Smash Bros._ "

The trainer put Chespin back into the Pokéball and formed a fist as he looked over toward the judges, "Now wait just a second. Why would you think I'd be happy about that? Pokéball characters don't get any attention at all."

"What do you expect us to say? We can't just let every Pokémon fight on the arena as fighters," Samus began. "I understand that you wanted this to go differently, but we have the Pokéball as an item for a reason, and that's to allow for the large range of Pokémon to be represented without having to have six hundred, seven hundred, however many there are now, be featured on the roster. We try to add a new Pokémon in each iteration on the roster, and that's usually one of the newer ones. For older Pokémon, we assume they're just going to be an item. Sorry."

The trainer started to get angrier, "But nobody cares about items! My Chespin deserves the spotlight."

Samus laughed, "He doesn't. Sorry. Have a good one. Don't make us call security."

The trainer accepted that he wouldn't be able to challenge Samus on this and walked offstage, Pokéball in hand. Samus patted her hands on the table, sighing, "We're gonna have to deal with more of these aren't we?"

* * *

Samus's rhetorical question was correct, as the rest of the day was filled with multiple Pokémon trainers hoping that they would be luckier than Chespin. One younger girl stood in front of the judges with her Pokéball in hand.

"Hi there," Peach smiled staring at the trainer who was standing front and center stage, as chipper as a kid in a candy store. "What's your name and which Pokémon did you come to show us?"

The girl had long blonde hair put into pigtails, her shirt and jeans red and pink with the Pokéball logo subtly stitched onto both. Her eyes and smile beamed as she spoke, "I'm Lucy, I'm eleven years old, and I decided to bring the Magikarp that my Dad gave me for my birthday!"

"Oh..." Peach sighed, "I'm so sorry that your father doesn't love you."

Pit immediately put his hand over Peach's mouth, in order to avoid hurting the feelings of the girl. "What Peach means to say is, 'Thank you for taking the time out of your day to come out here, but I'm afraid that Magikarp is not a Pokémon we're really looking for.'"

The girl's smile quickly faded as she began to cry. Villager ran out onto the stage to escort her away from the judges.

Pit turned his head back toward Peach as he quickly started breathing easy again. He took his hand off of her mouth and rubbed her saliva off with a tissue. "Why would you say something like that, Peach?"

Peach fixed her now smeared lipstick, "Because her father gave her a Magikarp for her birthday. Not a decent starter Pokémon, just some useless Magikarp. That's just so sad!"

* * *

Another trainer, in his twenties or so, stood on the stage, throwing his Pokéball up and down before the judges, "What's up? I'm Ace, and my Lunala is going to be the perfect Pokémon for _Smash Brothers._ "

Fox lifted his brow, "Oh, really? Perfect you say? How come?"

Ace smiled confidently, "It's a new legendary Pokémon and it's a Psychic/Ghost type fighter. I know for a fact you don't have one of those."

The panel all sat silent, staring at each other with confused looks on their faces. Peach cleared her throat as she looked up at the tall trainer in green who was clearly not able to read the room. "We do have Mewtwo, who is also a legendary psychic Pokémon."

"Fuck!" Ace shouted as he slammed his Pokéball on the floor. The skeletal, dark purple and gold colored legless bat known as Lunala emerged, and immediately charged a shadow ball and hit the trainer, sending him across the stage. The Lunala continued attacking the trainer without any question or hesitation. The sound of the trainer screeching filled the entire building.

The judges looked at each other, completely impressed. "I like that it just attacks. That's the qualities of a good legendary Pokéball character. I say we let it in," Fox whispered loudly so that the other four could hear. They each nodded in agreement.

"Lunala! We think you'd be a great Pokéball summon. Congratulations!" Fox declared. The five judges began applauding rapidly, a couple of "Bravos" and "Bravas" were shouted, mostly by Peach.

The Lunala turned toward the table and started floating up and down with glee, giving Ace the chance to retrieve his Pokéball and redeem his Pokémon. He crawled over toward center stage, grabbing his purple and white master ball, "Lunala! Get back!"

The ray of light made the bat creature return to its ball. The room was now completely silent, and Ace stood awkwardly standing at the judges, "So what happens now?"

"...You leave? Congrats on your Pokémon making it in! We needed a new legendary Pokémon," Fox responded.

Ace didn't say a word. Instead, he walked off the stage, embarrassed to have had his Pokémon use him as a punching bag in front of some of Nintendo's greats.

* * *

The day continued with more of the same Pokémon trainers. Each of them was a variant of what they had already seen. Naive children who bring an older, weak, slightly irrelevant Pokémon, only to be immediately disappointed that they don't fit the bill; Overconfident trainers who bring their legendary Pokémon to only be beaten to a pulp by their own creations; Trainers who think that their Pokémon is a gift from the Pokégods and for that reason they deserve to have their baby join the roster. All of these ended up being back to back to back, leaving the judges exhausted from constantly having to reject the same things.

It was now quarter to five in the afternoon, the judges were exhausted. Peach stared at her small, pink mirror, making sure her face was clear from any blemishes, "So what do we do after auditions at five? Do we go out for dinner and make fun of everyone who came out today? Do we go out and drink as a way to recover from this ordeal? I've never done this before."

Fox's head was slammed against the table, "We just kinda go back to our rooms and sleep."

Samus paced around the table, making sure that her legs were still moving and active after spending the past few hours sitting down, "Yeah. I've seen you guys for long enough today, I don't think I need to see you for longer."

Peach stood up and stretched before putting her hands on her hips, "Come on guys! I don't want to spend my evening in my hotel room, sitting in my bathtub full of bubbles, drinking a glass of champagne and watching _Mushroom Kingdom News_! I want to go out and do something! Anything!"

"Why? That sounds great actually," Little Mac muttered, his head resting against his green boxing glove.

"Because I don't want to spend the evening alone! That's so boring!" Peach whined.

Pit turned his head behind me, where Peach was standing. His hand caressing his bow, "Aren't you tired of being surrounded by people all day long? Because I know I am."

Peach sighed, "I guess a little bit! But I still want to do something, I guess."

"Well, if you choose to go out tonight, just know auditions start at nine in the morning tomorrow, and you have to be here and ready to go by then," Fox responded, looking over at the clock, "We still have time for one more audition this evening. Should we let Wii Fit Trainer know?"

"Oh! I know now!" Wii Fit Trainer announced as she walked onto the stage. The five judges gasped with shock, completely unprepared to see the yoga instructor calmly standing before them. She didn't react, and instead smiled stating, "I can definitely go find one more potential fighter right now."

"Great, go do that!" Fox sighed, closing his eyes and rubbing his fingers against his temples as if to stop a headache.

* * *

Backstage, the crowd was beginning to only slightly thin out. The waiting areas were no longer completely crowded, nobody was waiting outside in the waiting area. Kirby and Jigglypuff had no more sign-in forms to give.

Wii Fit Trainer walked around the food court area, only to see about ten or eleven characters sitting in separate areas of the room, quietly eating their meals. "Attention everyone! We have time for one more fighter this afternoon. If you still need to audition, come back first thing tomorrow morning and we'll get you ready so you can audition as soon as possible!"

One brunette princess, who was silently eating her salad, quickly threw her food to the side and ran up to Wii Fit Trainer, "Oh my gosh! Can I go! I've been waiting all day, and I don't want to have to wait until tomorrow to do this," she asked quickly.

The remaining auditionees didn't seem to fight it, many of had noticed the princess in the building since this morning, being patient and waiting her turn in the food court, and instead chose to leave the cafeteria. Wii Fit Trainer didn't see anybody else chomping at the bit, and nodded, guiding the princess toward the audition room.

Wii Fit Trainer opened the door, "Right this way, ma'am. You can go right on center stage. Good luck!"


	7. Hi, I'm Daisy

**A/N:** Thanks for the patience, guys! Here is the long-awaited Daisy chapter. I'm going to take a little hiatus from this, mainly since I need time to come up with some new ideas. Feel free to share some of your ideas. I've been a little skeptical to include characters that seem like realistic fits (King K. Rool, Decidueye, Rex & Pyra, etc.) just because I don't want to write something that will be proven wrong, but feel free to share characters that you know won't make it in until we find out who else makes it in!

* * *

 **Chapter 6 – Hi, I'm Daisy!**

The sound of high heels click-clacked on the dark stage floor as the princess followed the trainer into the backstage. She stared ahead, adjusting her golden crown, as Wii Fit Trainer stood beside her.

The trainer smiled as she looked over at the princess, "Nervous?"

The princess shrugged, "A little but not really. I think I'll be fine."

Wii Fit Trainer counted down from five to zero with her fingers, slowly but surely. The entire room was silent.

"We heard you guys come in! What are you waiting for?" Fox's voice shouted from a slight distance. "We want to do this audition and then go home. We're exhausted!"

"Ok," Wii Fit Trainer sighed. "Whatever, you can just go out there!"

Wii Fit Trainer pushed her along gently. The princess walked out confidently, excited to not only prove her spot on the roster but to see one of her closest friends, Princess Peach, in her element.

Her heels clacked onward as she stood center stage, barely able to contain her excitement. Besides Fox, however, nobody else was paying attention. Just about everyone's eyes were completely glazed over, looking through the princess as if she never entered the room. She was slightly disappointed to see Peach, slouching in her seat with her eyes shut.

Fox did not hesitate to get started, "Good evening! Please introduce yourself."

She smiled, putting her hands on her hips, "Hi, I'm Daisy!"

Peach's eyes jolted open as she looked up at her fellow princess standing right before her, "Oh my gosh! Daisy! You're actually auditioning!"

Daisy smiled, "That's right! I caved in and decided to audition!"

Peach ran up onto the stage and hugged Daisy, "Oh my gosh you're gonna do so great!"

Samus rolled her eyes, "This feels like it's a bit of a conflict of interest. Peach, how can you be fair when you're clearly going to say yes to Daisy no matter what?"

Peach turned to Samus and crossed her arms, "I don't think you're giving me enough credit. I think I've been fair to everyone who's come up on this stage."

"Well, yeah," Samus began, "But you weren't friends with any of them. You're obviously friends with Daisy so you're probably going to say yes."

"That's kind of rich coming from you," Peach argued. "You didn't give Ridley a chance at all."

"Okay, okay, okay," Fox interrupted. "Before this becomes a whole screaming match, let me chime in here."

Peach scoffed, "Oh, yes, let's let the _head judge_ put his two cents in the matter."

Little Mac and Pit stared uncomfortably at each other, making sure that they stayed out of all of the drama. Daisy stood next to Peach, her arms on her hips, completely unsure how to react.

Fox took a breath, "Samus makes a fair point, there is a conflict of interest here. I say we do something similar to what we did when Ridley auditioned. Peach, you're free to stay and watch the audition, but you aren't going to have a say in whether Daisy gets through or not. Is that fair?"

Samus sighed, "Whatever, I think it's fair."

Peach rolled her eyes and headed back to her seat, "Fine. I'll just sit back down, and you can all pretend that I'm not even here."

Fox sat back up in his seat, "Great. So Daisy, tell us a little bit more about yourself."

Daisy smiled and stood up straight, "Well, it all started when Mario saved me back in _Super Mario Land_ back in 1989 _._ Since then, I've been joining the Mario crew in golf, tennis, _Mario Kart, Mario Party_. The list goes on."

Fox looked over at Peach, who could barely contain her excitement. He slowly turned his gaze back toward Daisy, who stood up straight and confident, "Great. So let's talk moves. What are you thinking?"

"Well, we could talk about them," Daisy began, "But why don't I show them instead?"

Peach beamed as she grabbed her phone to contact Luigi, "Luigi will love to see you! Let's call him in!"

Little Mac contorted his face, "Where is he anyway? I thought he was supposed to stick around for the rest of the day."

Pit's face went red, "I...may have told him he could leave because of the way he's been treated today. We have been kind of mean to him."

Peach facepalmed and let out a sigh, "Luigi's getting paid to be here, just like the rest of us Pit. You don't have to be so nice to him."

Samus scoffed at Peach's remark, "I thought you said you were going to stay quiet for this audition. You know, pretend like you aren't here."

"I just said that you guys can pretend that I'm not here. I didn't say that I would be quiet," Peach snapped back. "Anyway, I gave Luigi a heads up that Daisy was here, I'm sure he'll run in soon."

"Great! I can't wait to see my darling Luigi's face," Daisy replied enthusiastically.

Samus raised her eyebrow, "Really? I'm in no hurry."

The room went silent for a moment. For some reason, everyone wanted to wait for Luigi to show up. Pit began fiddling his thumbs, awkwardly looking around the room. He cocked his head as he heard the sounds of footsteps getting increasingly louder and louder. The sound of panting became more apparent over the span of time. Everyone gave confused looks to each other as the sounds stopped.

Fox became impatient and cleared his throat, "I have no idea why we're waiting for Luigi. We don't need him here. Let's just ge-"

Fox was cut off by the sound of Luigi slamming through the wall in the back of the audition room. He face-planted onto the dusty floor, panting loudly.

Samus, completely aggravated, turned her head over to Luigi, and began to scream, "Luigi, you _do_ realize that you didn't have to slam through the wall, right? Now we have to fix that as well!"

Luigi didn't listen to Samus as he slowly walked toward the front of the room, wearing a cheesy grin as he stared at Daisy with googly eyes.

Daisy laughed, "I can't believe it's been, like, two decades and he still looks at me like we first met."

Luigi, in an attempt to be suave, tried to jump up on the stage. However, this ended up failing as Luigi's face collided with the stage. He fell on his back onto the floor. Pit got out of his seat and walked over to the helpless Luigi. He grabbed Luigi's hand and flew him up to the stage. He gently dropped Luigi onto the floor to the left of Daisy before jumping off the stage and returning to his seat.

"...Hey...Daisy," Luigi grumbled through the pain.

Daisy reached her hand out to Luigi in order to get him back on his feet. Luigi regained his senses and clenched onto her gloved hand. "How embarrassing," he said, dusting off his overalls.

Daisy giggled, "Hey there. I hope you're ready to get your butt kicked."

Luigi's eyes widened, "Wait...what?"

"I have to show my moves so I can get in the next _Smash Bros._ I'm sure you'll understand."

Before Luigi could react, Daisy took out her golf club and smacked Luigi in the face, sending him flying toward stage right. He got up slowly, and threw a green fireball at her and headed toward her. However, a blue toad appeared out of nowhere and countered the move. As Luigi got close, the toad grabbed Luigi and headbutted him into the ground. Luigi ricocheted off of the ground and was briefly in the air. Daisy spun around as an orange ribbon surrounded her, catapulting Luigi across the stage. Daisy walked over to Luigi, who was rubbing the back of his head and jumped sideways. Her rump colliding with Luigi's face, throwing him backstage on stage right.

Daisy dusted off her dress and walked back toward the center stage. Peach stood up and began to clap vigorously, "I'm so proud of you, girl!"

Daisy jokingly bowed to the judges, even though Peach was the only one who was clapping. Fox, Pit, and Little Mac smiled patiently, waiting for Peach to stop clapping and get back into her seat. Samus, on the other hand, crossed her arms and scowled, "Okay, Peach, we get it! You liked how she did. Can you stop now?"

Peach didn't say a word, but stopped clapping and shrugged as she took her seat. She gestured to Samus as if to say, "You have the floor."

"Alright, well I'll just say it," Samus started, "Your whole shtick is that you're basically a clone of Peach, right?"

Daisy smiled and crossed her arms, "Honestly, I had the whole concept of being called a clone. I am my own person. I wouldn't consider myself a clone of Peach, we have different personalities and different interests. Sure, I may have a lot of moves inspired by Peach, but I think I bring my own twist to it. Besides, it's not like I'm the first person who's come here and 'borrowed' someone else's moves."

"Well, thank you for that manifesto," Samus responded dryly, "But move-wise, you're using the same moves that Peach has, and I feel like we should be focusing on more original fighters. I mean, you could be taking the spot of a more original fighter."

"Now hold on right there," Peach said, putting her finger up to Samus's mouth, "First of all, we let in anyone that we think is worthy of being on the roster. We don't necessarily have a cap, we just have very high standards of who we think should join."

"Whatever, my point is: With such high standards, we don't need more clones, or whatever the hell you want to call them, in _Smash Brothers Ultimate,_ " Samus declared.

"I feel like 'clones' more or less echo the fighter their borrowing their moves from," Pit retorted. "Maybe we could call them... _echo fighters_?"

Samus let out a laugh, "You clearly did not just come up with that on a whim. You've been sleeping on that one for a while, haven't you, Pit?"

"You know what?" Fox interrupted, "I like it, let's start using that term. Great idea, Pit!"

Pit's face went red as he began to smile, "Aw! Thanks, Fox."

"Before we forget, what's your Final Smash idea?" Fox asked, changing the topic in hopes of avoiding a big fight between Samus and Peach.

Daisy stroked her chin, "I've been struggling with this one because I don't want to just copy Peach's Final Smash. I was thinking of borrowing what I did in _Super Mario Strikers_ , jump up into the air and smash a soccer ball into the faces of my enemies, knocking them back. Hopefully off the stage," she stated her idea with complete confidence.

Fox nodded, "We're gonna work on that one. Anyway, I'll open the floor back up to the rest of you. Pit, why don't you go next?"

Pit smiled, "Okay. I like the execution of your moves. Sure, you copy Peach's moves for the most part, but I feel like for the most part, I can see that. However, I am a little skeptical of having another 'echo fighter' on the roster, I feel like people will be mad about that."

Peach, not looking at Pit, stared at the floor, "Speaking of 'echo fighters', how's Dark Pit doing?"

Pit's face got red again, and he scratched the back of his head awkwardly, "Uh...he's doing alright, I guess."

"Are you sure he's coming back to the next _Smash_? I just feel that you know, because people are all skeptical about 'clones,' you'd be concerned that people would get angry if he returned," Peach explained.

"Oh...uh...yeah...he's coming back," Pit sighed.

Peach giggled, "Great! If that's the case, then Daisy should also join in the fun, too! The more, the merrier! Besides, all of the other echo fighters are based on male fighters. I guess that's great, but I want to see more people inspired by the amazing women who also make up a growing part of _Smash Bros._ "

Pit said nothing as he slumped into his seat. Little Mac smiled at Daisy and began to speak, "I wasn't sure if you had what it takes, but then you beat your boyfriend's ass without hesitation. Now I think you have what it takes."

Daisy laughed, "Well, all's fair in love and war. Besides, if I'm going to be joining, I'm going to have to leave my personal feelings off the battlefield."

Peach cheered, getting off of her seat, "Yeah! That's what I like to hear, Daisy!"

"Alright, alright, let's calm down," Fox hushed, "Let me give my two cents before we come to our final decision. As someone who used to have an 'echo fighter' back in the day, I can assure you that there's nothing wrong with their inclusion."

"Ha! I beg to differ," Samus interrupted.

"Yes, we all know that," Fox responded. "I think that you would be a great fit for _Smash Brothers_. Nothing I can really add that hasn't been said. I think your Final Smash needs to go back to the drawing board, but that's not a big deal. We can finalize all of that once the roster has been completely decided. Anyway, all in favor of including Daisy on the roster?"

"I!" Fox, Pit, and Little Mac declared in unison.

"Ugh, we don't need to do the whole I oppose this thing, we already know that she's in. I'm the only one who doesn't think she should join. That's all I'm going to say," Samus muttered. "Anyway, with this audition done, I'm going to go to bed. You're all frustrating me."

"Oh my gosh! I can't believe I actually made it in!" Daisy shouted, jumping up and down for joy. She rushed over backstage to shake Luigi awake. "Luigi! Luigi!"

Luigi opened his eyes and sighed, "Daisy? Did you get in?"

"I did! I guess we'll be fighting on the battlefield quite a bit now!" Daisy cheered. She rushed off the stage to give Peach a hug, "I guess we'll find out who's the better princess!"

Peach laughed, "I guess so! Can't wait to take on my number one fan!"

Luigi sighed from backstage, "Oh...Mama mia! She's going to destroy me."

Fox shook Daisy's hand, "Welcome to the team, Daisy! We're excited to have you."

Daisy smiled, "I'm excited to work with you all. This is gonna be so great!"

"Great," Fox said, in a professional voice. "Now if you don't mind me, I'm going to head out. I'm exhausted and need to get out of here. Peach, see you tomorrow, bright and early tomorrow?"

"Oh, of course!" Peach exclaimed, "Looking forward to it!"

Fox nodded as he headed out of the building. Pit and Little Mac got out of their seats quietly and headed toward the doors.

Peach turned back to Daisy, "We should definitely go out and get dinner, celebrate your accomplishment!"

"Yes! Let's do it!" Daisy shouted. She looked over at Pit and Little Mac, "Do you guys want to join, too?"

"Oh, no," Pit shook his head, "I'm too tired. Maybe some other time, though!"

"Uh...generic excuse," Little Mac replied.

"Did you really just say 'generic excuse?'" Daisy laughed.

"Uh...yeah..." he said slowly.

Peach grabbed her belongings and walked with Daisy toward the door, "Alright, well, see you guys tomorrow, then!"

With Peach and Daisy out the door, Pit and Little Mac were left alone in the room. Pit walked behind Little Mac slowly, "You wanna play some video games?" Pit asked.

Little Mac stopped in his tracks, "Uh...yeah, sure. Why not?"

Little Mac and Pit walked out toward the door. Pit turned off the lights, the audition room was empty and dark, with the exception of the hole that Luigi left behind earlier.

* * *

Luigi remained laying on the backstage floor, grunting in pain. Wii Fit Trainer walked backstage to find Luigi on the floor, "Everything okay?"

"Ugh...yes..." Luigi sighed.

"Alright," Wii Fit Trainer responded. "I figured you might want to go to the hospital if you're in pain, but if you're okay then I guess I'll say good night then!" Wii Fit Trainer walked out of the room.

Luigi slowly got up off the floor and headed toward the door. "Mama Mia, do I need a vacation or what?"


	8. KK Slidin' into the Arena

**A/N:** Thanks for all of your suggestions from the last chapter, as you're about to see, I decided to not take any of them and did my own thing, haha. Also thanks for your patience, I needed some time away from this story to just kind of come up with some ideas and this is what came into my head. I wanted to get a chapter up today because I wanted to get some hype for the direct on Wednesday, and also because today (August 6) was actually my birthday, and I wanted to spend at least a little bit of today doing some writing and sharing it with some people. I had a lot of fun writing this one, not sure if it's actually as funny as I thought it was, but I hope you guys enjoy.

Also, no need to send me any more recommendations for characters, I think I'm all set with everyone you've all recommended. However, don't hesitate to tell me how much you're enjoying the fanfic (or if you have any constructive criticism, which I am all for taking!)

* * *

 **Chapter 7 – K.K. Slidin' Into The Arena**

Peach walked into the empty audition room with Daisy at approximate 7:42 on day two, about forty-five minutes earlier than needed. Peach took a seat in her royal chair and looked around the room, she took out a paper fan from her purse and began waving it in her face, softly panting, "Oh my, it's so hot in here!"

Daisy nodded in agreement, "I know. This is absolutely unbearable! It wasn't like this yesterday, was it?"

Peach paused for a moment and looked up toward the ceiling. Her face contorted slightly as she tried to think, "Um...I'm not sure. I gotta say, yesterday's auditions feel like they were weeks ago for some reason. I, for some reason, can't remember how hot it was."

Daisy crossed her arms and scoffed, "Well, I hope that you guys get some air conditioning, and pronto!"

The two laughed in unison, "Oh man, I hope so," Peach said, in-between gasps for breath.

Daisy sighed as she looked back over to the door, "Well, I had such a great time hanging out last night, but I should probably head out. Very excited to get to fight you on the battlefield soon. Good luck with auditions today!"

Peach took out a notebook and pen and waved at Daisy as she headed out the door. She continued bearing the heat for a couple of minutes before ultimately muttering "fuck this" under her breath and headed toward a room in the building with proper air conditioning.

* * *

As the morning got underway, the rest of the judges (slowly but surely) arrived into the building, already noticing a crowd starting to form. The crowd was not as hectic as yesterday, with a decent chunk of Monday auditionees no longer waiting for their turn. There were plenty of potential fighters on the front of the line who returned from yesterday, already with their forms all filled out, ready to hit the stage.

One of those characters in particular was a bipedal white dog with a guitar strapped to his back. His demeanor was calm, cool, and collected. While others were cheering as Little Mac and Pit (shamefully) walked through the front door at 8:59 that Tuesday morning, the dog paid no mind. His feet remained planted on the gravel. Once the clock struck nine and the line was finally allowed entry into the building, he walked straight ahead, paying minimal mind to the excited fighters around him. He took a seat on a green chair in the waiting area, his forms all filled out.

Within moments Wii Fit Trainer came into the lobby, "For those of you who have your forms all filled out, the judges are ready! I'll be taking the first batch of auditionees this morning."

The dog got out of his seat, his forms in his pocket. A group of other fighters were right behind him, their faces much more intense, much more in-the-zone compared to the singular dog who was right in front of the yoga trainer. He didn't want to admit it out loud, but he was a little nervous. He hid his concern over a false bravado, out of fear that someone or something would point out how out of place he might seem. He was a dog, surrounded by bounty hunters, knights, swordsmen, and one particularly buff Pokémon trainer. However, he remained by Wii Fit Trainer as the line headed toward the backstage.

* * *

"I can't believe you guys are this late," Fox said, slightly irritated by the two judges on the right side of the table. Little Mac and Pit both let out nervous smiles, both looking at each other trying to come up with the best excuse.

Pit stumbled over his words, "W-well, you see...th-the thing is that..." He looked over at Little Mac, who gave him an encouraging nod of approval.

Samus, however, didn't have the time for this, "Spit it out, Pit!"

Pit let out a long, painful sigh, "Our alarm didn't go off this morning so we had to scramble to get here! We're sorry if this was an inconvenience to all of you!"

Fox's white brow raised slightly upon hearing Pit's excuse, "Why were you so nervous to share that?"

"I was expecting something _way_ more embarrassing," Peach chimed in, "Now I'm just kind of disappointed."

The conversation was interrupted by Wii Fit Trainer who arrived on the center stage, her hands on her waist. "We're ready to send out the first contestant of the day!"

Fox nodded before turning back to Pit and Little Mac, "Listen, guys, it's not that big of a deal. Just make sure not to cut it close next time. Now let's get through this first audition without any drama, shall we?"

Samus chuckled, "You're asking for _way_ too much, Fox. You really think that an audition for _Smash Bros._ will go by without drama of any sort? We have the Princess of drama sit right in the middle of our panel!" She gestured over to Peach.

Peach rolled her eyes, "I think you mean Princess of the Mushroom Kingdom, but whatever. I'm not going to argue," she paused and looked over at Wii Fit Trainer, who was still standing front and center stage, her hands still on her waist. "You can send the first fighter out, Wii Fit Trainer!"

"Oh, of course!" Wii Fit Trainer announced. She walked backstage and pushed out the white dog who's guitar was strapped to his back.

The dog stood center stage, looking out at the tired faces on the panel in front of him. "Good morning, cool cats. The name's K.K. Slider, and I'm glad to be here on this beautiful morning."

Little Mac squinted his eyes, "Yeah...we've all met you before K.K., you've performed for us whenever we fight on Smashville on a Saturday night."

K.K.'s face remained unmoved, "I'm glad to hear, man. This is my first time getting the chance to speak with you all, five-on-one, and prove why I've got what it takes to join your crew."

Peach leaned in on her throne, her elbows pressed against the white table, "I'm just kind of surprised to see you here this morning, K.K. I may not have had the chance to speak with you before, but from what I recall, you don't seem like the fighting type."

"Yeah, well they said that about my cool cat, Villager, and now look at him. He's pocketing everyone's moves and chopping trees down on his foes with no hesitation. He's become quite the legend around our parts."

"Alright, well, we've been through introductions so no need to stall them out now," Fox declared, picking up his pen and notebook. "Feel free to show us your moves, Mr. Slider."

"Hold up now, two things, my man," K.K. Stated as he turned around for his guitar, "Firstly, no need to call me Mr. Slider, that was my old man's name, you can just call me K.K. Secondly, why rush through the nice conversation we're having? Folks always want to rush through everything, but there's beauty in just going with the flow, you know what I'm saying?"

"I know exactly what you mean," Peach sighed. "You're just so intriguing, I gotta be honest."

"Okay, okay, hold up now," Samus said, putting her hand on Peach's mouth. "Sorry if this comes off as rude K.K, but I'm already sensing a couple of red flags. Mind if I address the elephant in the room"

The dog nodded slowly, "By all means," he opened up his hand to imply that the floor was hers.

"You're auditioning to join the roster of a fighting game. I don't know if you've paid too much attention to the fights that you perform at, but there's no time for lollygagging. Plus, we have so many people here auditioning to be part of this roster. We don't have an hour to just talk with everyone. Time is wasting!" Samus declared, "Let's see what you've got!"

"Wait," Little Mac interrupted, "Is Luigi here? Someone's gotta get their ass beat, and I know for sure it's not gonna be us!"

Luigi groaned as he shuffled onto the stage, standing next to K.K.

"Luigi, sometimes I forget you're even here! Sometimes you're so quiet," Samus laughed.

Luigi and K.K. locked eyes. "Now, I mean no hard feelings man, I'm just doing what I have to do," the dog said softly and in a reassuring tone before smashing his guitar across the face of the man in green. Luigi's face colliding with the ground.

Luigi slowly got up off the ground, "Is that all you've got, pooch?" He shouted as a green fireball emerged from his hand, toward K.K. The dog pocketed his fireball, not unlike Villager, and returned it back to Luigi. Luigi screeched as his fireball made contact with his body.

K.K. approached Luigi as he twitched in mild pain. The dog somehow dug a hole under Luigi, trapping him in a small pit before planting a tree right next to him. K.K. watered the tree, and it emerged from the ground. Apples were decorated on the tree, pretty inexplicably. As Luigi remained helpless in the ground, K.K. began chopping the tree, which landed right on Luigi, who flew backstage.

As Luigi got off the ground once again, he walked over toward K.K. in hopes of landing a punch. K.K. strummed his guitar in response, making Luigi fall asleep. K.K. then jumped up and collided the bottom of his guitar with the top of Luigi's head, once again sending him flying. His green hat fell off to reveal a giant goose egg on the top of his head. It was clear that the dog meant business.

K.K. returned back to front and center stage. The judges politely clapped for the dog, but his face remained the same.

As the clapping died shortly after, Peach spoke up first, "K.K. you are a good boy, if I do say so myself. I take it you would be an echo fighter to Villager."

K.K. responded, speaking slowly "I don't know what that is, miss, but I guess you could say that Villager is an inspiration to us all down in _Animal Crossing_. He's a strange kid, but he's got a lotta heart."

"Alright, well, I can see you doing pretty well on the battlefield. I love the _Animal Crossing_ series, and would love to see more representation," Peach finished.

"I appreciate your words, Princess, you're a true class act, but standing here has made me realize I have a couple of doubts about being on a Battlefield," K.K. declared.

"W-what do you mean? Are you saying you don't actually want to join the roster?" Fox asked, his face completely puzzled.

"Well, you know, sometimes you kick the butt of some stranger and you gotta wonder 'What am I doing this for? This isn't who I am' and you realize that as a pacifist you have to do what feels right." K.K. announced. He reached out to grab Luigi's hand, as he laid down on the ground. "Let me help you find a seat, Pete," he said as he helped lift Luigi off the ground.

"Thank you," Luigi muttered. "You're a good boy!"

"I don't like when people call me that, man, but I understand the sentiment and I appreciate it!" K.K. smiled as he helped Luigi sit down on the edge of the stage.

"It's just a little strange that you would go through this whole process, just to realize, at the very end of the auditions, that you don't even want to be here. It's kind of insulting to the other's who are on line, if I'm being honest," Samus argued, crossing her arms as she put her legs on the table. "Besides, if you're such a pacifist, why would you beat the shit out of Luigi in the first place?"

"Sometimes, you gotta get out of your comfort zone to realize what you're meant to do, and this isn't what I was meant to do," the dog responded.

"Okay, I feel like you think you're being philosophical, but I feel like if you knew you were a pacifist, why would you go against your morals without much hesitation?" Samus argued. "Again, it's just a strange decision. I have a lot of questions."

"...And I have a lot of answers," K.K. stated in a slight whisper. "Why don't I play you a song that explains exactly how I feel?"

"Don't do that," Samus grunted, "I won't understand the words anyway."

"You don't need the words to understand the meaning...wo-man, that's just the power of music," the dog announced.

Samus looked at her fellow judges, who didn't have any words to describe how they felt, "I feel like this dog might be on some kind of drugs. Do you guys think he's high?"

"The only thing I'm high on is life. Life's a journey, and I'm just along for the ride. You're free to take a seat next to me and enjoy the roller coaster. There's no wait for you, dudette."

"Okay, I'm done. I have nothing left to say. I wasn't really all that impressed in the first place, I was going to say no anyway. Thanks for coming though, have a good rest of your day, I guess," Samus shrugged.

"Well, I just wanted to thank you for coming out K.K. Slider. You're a fascinating dog, and honestly, I'm a huge fan of your music," Pit squealed. "I'm kind of fanboying right now, not gonna lie. You're just so awesome!"

K.K. nodded, "Well thank you, man. All of my music comes from the heart. Record companies feel like I should change my sound up, but I gotta keep my creative integrity. If you check your pocket, you'll find a bootleg of one of my songs. Feel free to listen to that one in your stereo, man!"

Pit's mouth opened wide, "Wow! That's crazy." He took a gold music note out of his pocket, "How did this even get in my here in the first place?"

"I'm not sure, man," K.K. shrugged, "I don't question it though. No need to keep myself up at night thinking about it. Life's too short to be questioning everything that happens in the world."

Peach cleared her throat, "Okay, one last question, K.K. Like, when are you going to release some new music?"

"When the songs come into my head, I'll finally get to record them and share them with the world. As for now, you'll just have to wait and see. Thanks for the opportunity, ladies and gents, I can't wait to perform for you all on Smashville again. I've learned a lot of amazing information from all of you. See you on Saturday nights," K.K. announced as he headed out of the audition room.

The room was now silent, the judges all staring at each other, then at Luigi who was drinking a bottle of water, still recovering from K.K.'s performance.

"Well," Fox said, his voice echoing across the room. "That was certainly an interesting few minutes. I guess it's time for the next audition, though."

Samus scoffed, "That was honestly so frustrating. I'd rather him be cocky like Waluigi was yesterday."

"I just can't believe _the_ K.K. Slider actually gave me some of his music. I can't believe I missed out on the opportunity to get a selfie with him! That would've been so awesome!" Pit exclaimed, his words moving a mile a minute.

Samus put her head in her hands, "Oh my god! Today is going to be absolute torture. Why did I sign up to do this again?"


	9. Vampire Hunters Take On Smash

**A/N:** A little bummed that I wasn't able to write and post this chapter on Wednesday (I would've loved to have capitalized on the direct, but work has been pretty crazy this past week.) This is probably for the best because I think this chapter wouldn't have been as good if I just wrote something on the spot, which is exactly what I did with the last chapter and the reason why it's not as good as many of the other chapters haha. Thanks for your patience, and I hope this chapter is much better.

Would love to hear what you guys thought of the direct on Wednesday. I expected a _Castlevania_ character but was kind of surprised that there wasn't any shocking out of left field character reveals (i.e. Wii Fit Trainer back when Smash 4 was announced). Anyway, enjoy the chapter!

* * *

 **Chapter 8 – Vampire Hunters Take On Smash**

Once the judges were finished talking about K.K. Slider, Fox did not hesitate to shout for the next fighter to come out and show their moves. While the team wasn't necessarily running behind yet, Fox had a sneaking suspicion that things would eventually go wrong sometime soon. His face was rock solid and stern, he meant business today.

A tall figure in a dark cloak walked onto the stage with a chain in hand. As the figure walked toward the center stage, each of the judges looked at each other in slight confusion, after all, they had no idea who this person was.

"Good morning," Fox began slowly, unable to see the face before him. "May I ask who you are?"

There was a moment of silence before the figure ripped the cloak off, revealing a tall, muscular man with long blonde hair and brown armor. "Sorry, figured I'd make an entrance. I'm Simon Belmont of the _Castlevania_ series," he announced in a quiet, yet deep voice.

Pit gasped at the sight of Simon before his eyes. Pit quickly jumped up from his chair, "I can't believe Simon Belmont is here before me, asking if he can join the roster. I'm such a fan of your work, Mr. Belmont, sir!"

Simon raised his brow, "Uh...thank you for your support, I guess?"

Peach turned toward Samus, "Is it me or is that guy kind of hot" Peach asked, hoping to be discreet as Pit began worshipping the ground that Simon walked on, giving the vampire hunter as many praises in a short amount of time.

Samus turned her head over to Peach and raised her eyebrow, "I thought you were dating Mario, y'know the Italian plumber?"

Peach's seemingly discreet whispering turned into a shout, "No! I am not, and have never, dated Mario! And he's not even a plumber! I've never even seen him unclog a fucking toilet in my life!"

The entire room paused and stared at Peach, who now was wide-eyed, like a deer in headlights. "Oops, sorry, didn't mean to shout that out loud. Carry on!"

"Anyway," Fox cleared his throat. "Simon, tell us about yourself. You must have come a long way to get here considering the fact that you're from the _Castlevania_ world."

"That is correct," Simon nodded. "It took days to travel here so I could stand before you. I am a member of the Belmont clan. For centuries, it has been our duty to slay Count Dracula. Today, I am here to be a part of your fighting competition."

Samus tapped her fingers on the desk, "May I ask why you want to be part of _Super Smash Brothers_?"

Simon shrugged, "I don't know, I've just been told by a lot of people to audition, so that's why I'm here."

Fox pursed his lips and nodded, "Yeah, that's pretty common."

"Okay, I know this is an unrelated note, but I do have a question for you, uh, Simon, is it?" Peach asked, pressing her finger on her lips, her voice hesitated for a second, "What product of shampoo do you use? Your hair looks amazing!"

Simon squinted his eyes, his mouth slightly open in confusion, "Sham...poo? I have no idea what you're talking about."

The rest of the judges looked at Peach equally confused, to which Peach just shrugged. "Hey, I warned you all it was unrelated. I was just curious. Carry on!"

"Actually, I have a question for you Simo-I mean, Mr. Belmont, sir!" Pit announced, trying to respect the vampire hunter he had such an affinity for. "Do you have any family members or friends here supporting you? Maybe holding up a sign saying something like, 'You can do it, Simon!' or 'You're gonna slay?' We never ask that question here, and I don't know why."

"Because most of the people who audition don't actually have a family?" Little Mac answered slowly.

"Yeah," Peach sighed, "Now that I think about it. I don't think I've ever met my parents. I have no idea who the King and Queen of the Mushroom Kingdom even are! Do they exist? Am I actually the ruler of the Mushroom Kingdom?"

"Okay, why is it that we keep getting off track?" Samus grunted, her arms crossed glaring over at Peach and Pit. "You two just keep interrupting this audition. Why are you wasting our time like this?"

"Actually, I do happen to have a family member here. He's backstage," Simon said gesturing toward stage right.

"Can he come on out? I'd love to meet more of the Richter family!" Pit squealed, practically jumping up and down in his seat.

"Uh, sure!" Simon responded. He looked over backstage, to see another muscular vampire hunter with short, dark hair, a gray bandana, and blue armor. Simon motioned over to the man to come onstage with him.

The other vampire hunter walked on stage slowly. The sound of his boots scuffing on the stage echoed in the room. Pit, who was completely starstruck, uttered a loud gasp, "You're Richter Belmont! I can't believe you're here too! I'm a huge fan."

Richter looked over at Simon awkwardly, Simon shrugged as if to say "just go along with it." Richter looked back at the judges, all of whom were nowhere near the excitement of Pit, who was fanboying so hard; His eyes were as wide as his smile, which, at this point, pretty much covered up his face. His face was turning red from all of the thrills.

Richter nodded, "Yes, I am Richter Belmont. Nice to meet you guys."

Peach smiled, "So what's your relationship with Simon? Are you guys brothers?"

"Oh, no. Not at all," Simon laughed. "He's my descendant. I was born in the 17th century, Richter was born in the 18th century."

Peach paused, "Okay, I have a ton of questions now."

"Well, we don't have the time for it," Samus interjected. Putting her hand on Peach's mouth to shut her up. "Simon, please show us your moves. We can send Luigi out here. I'm sure you could use a punching bag."

"Well, I'm here," Richter responded, raising his hand slowly. "Why don't we just fight each other instead? Could be much more exciting than watching Simon beat the shit out of some guy."

"Yeah, that's true. I feel like I'd just kill him on stage. Just doesn't seem right," Simon interjected.

Little Mac let out a slight laugh, "Honestly, you might be doing us a favor if you kill Luigi."

"At this point, I don't care, just do _something_ ," Samus grunted.

Simon and Richter moved toward separate sides of the stage. At first, the two both stood still, bracing themselves for the fight that was about to begin. Simon began to throw his whip across the stage, hitting Richter and stunning him slightly. Richter's response was to toss his cross over at Simon. The cross didn't actually hit Simon but turned back toward Richter. He caught his cross and started running closer to Simon.

The intensity of the fight started to kick in, Simon sent his axe toward Richter, hoping to stun him and make him vulnerable to attack. However, Richter shielded himself from attack. Richter threw a glass of holy water at Simon. As it landed on the ground, Simon was trapped in the water's fire. Richter then used an uppercut to send Simon in the air. Simon swiftly flew up into the air before falling to the ground.

However, Simon didn't quit so easily as he immediately got up from the ground. He flung his whip around in circles as if to taunt Richter to come his way. Richter took the bait, running back toward Simon, throwing an axe to his opponent. Simon dodged the attack and used his whip to push Richter back.

Suddenly without warning, the lighting in the room started to dim, and multicolored flames started to surround Simon. The judges looked at each other in shock, was Simon really about to unleash a Final Smash out of nowhere?

"Wait, I'm so confused. How is that even possible?" Peach asked, turning her head toward Fox and Samus.

Samus's mouth was wide open, and she was left almost speechless...almost, "I have no idea. Final Smashes aren't determined until after auditions when we have the entire cast."

"How could he possibly have his Final Smash already?" Fox asked, knowing that nobody would have an answer to his question. "The Smash Ball isn't even in play."

Simon grunted loudly as the Final Smash started to begin. He trapped Richter in a brown coffin, trapping his descendent in with his whip. Simon's whip helped launch Richter into the air, and through some type of magic energy (or at least that's how the judges saw it), Simon flexed as a blue and purple aura attacked the coffin, releasing Richter and sending him flying horizontally into the backstage, ramming into Luigi who was sitting backstage and reading a newspaper. As the two collided, Luigi laid down on the floor, panting. "Why does this keep happening to me?"

"Sorry about that...Luigi, I assume?" Richter asked, helping Luigi up.

Luigi grabbed onto Richter's hand, his other hand rubbing his bruised forehead. "Ugh, thank you," he muttered.

"Alright, well, I've already seen more than enough," Fox announced, as he began to applaud. "Well done to both of you. That was definitely an interesting performance to watch."

The other judges began to applaud as both Simon and Richter returned back to center stage, somehow both seemed completely unscathed.

"I actually have a question for you, Richter," Fox began. "Have you considered joining the Smash roster with Simon. You guys clearly have similar moves, but you can always become Simon's echo fighter."

Richter nodded, "Uh, I mean, I considered it, but...what is an echo fighter?"

"Oh, it essentially means you're a clone of another fighter, in this case, you would be Simon's echo fighter," Samus explained, gesturing her hand over to Simon.

"I mean, in that case, Simon learned some his moves from me. Can we really say he's _my_ echo fighter?" Richter argued calmly.

"It doesn't really matter who echos whom," Fox responded, "Point is, I think you are both worthy fighters for _Super Smash Brothers_ , and after that performance, I don't think it would be fair to include one of you without the other."

"I love that idea!" Pit screamed. "You guys already know I'm a huge fan of both of you, so I say the more the merrier!"

Samus crossed her arms and scoffed, "I mean, you both did a great job, my only concern about having Richter as an echo fighter is that he needs to fill out all of the forms like everyone else who auditioned."

"Uh, I gotta be honest," Little Mac spoke up, "I've never read a single form since I started here, so I don't think that it's really all that necessary. You both kicked ass today."

"Thank you very much," Simon responded lowly, he crossed his arms and let out a small smirk.

Little Mac continued, "I was just curious, Simon, how did you happen to have a Final Smash already? That usually isn't fully determined until after auditions when we have the full cast."

"I'm...not sure, actually," Simon responded, scratching his head. "After all of that fighting, the power just got ahold of me. I honestly don't know how to explain it."

"You know what?" Fox interrupted, taking out a pen and paper. He began writing down "Chargeable Final Smashes" on the lined paper. "I'm a fan of the idea of a chargeable Final Smash on the Battlefield. I'm gonna speak with some of the higher-ups and see if we can make that happen."

Both Simon and Richter nodded in approval, both at a loss for words. As Fox finished writing down his note, he looked over toward the other judges, to see if any of them had anything else to add, "All in favor of including Simon Belmont and his echo fighter Richter Belmont onto the _Smash_ roster?"

A unanimous "I!" echoed in the room as all five judges gave their decision.

"Well then, I guess this makes _Castlevania_ the first third-party series in _Smash_ history with two representatives. Welcome to the team, guys!" Fox announced, once again applauding them.

The other judges applauded before Pit bounced in his seat, "Man! I'm so excited for some _Castlevania_ representation! I'm a huge fan of the music from the series. Mind if I share my favorite song with you all?"

"Pit, no!" Fox shouted, "If you play the song, everyone's going to find out that someone from _Castlevania_ made it onto the roster. You know we're supposed to keep hush-hush about this, right?"

Fox's pleas fell upon deaf ears as Pit began to play some music from his phone. The song echoed throughout the auditorium, and the slight echo could be heard outside the audition area. Wii Fit Trainer opened the door and ran over to Pit, who was jamming out to the song on his phone. She slapped the phone out of Pit's hands. She looked at Pit dead in the eyes, "That is enough evidence of a leak. Someone could have found out that there will be _Castlevania_ representation in _Smash Bros_!"

A crowd of fighters stood by the door that Wii Fit Trainer left open, listening in on Wii Fit Trainer's rant.

"Hey, wait one second," a short young witch with black hair by the name of Ashley shouted out, forcing everyone in the room to turn over toward the open door. "There's going to be a _Castlevania_ character in Smash? I've gotta tell everyone about this!"

The judges glared over to Wii Fit Trainer, who let out an uncomfortable giggle, scratching the back of her head and blushing nervously. "Oops, sorry about that. Hope this leak doesn't spread. That would be...pretty bad."

The judges didn't say a word as Wii Fit Trainer walked out of the room, slamming the door behind her. Fox turned his head back to Simon and Richter, "Well, congratulations, I guess! Have a good rest of your day."

Simon and Richter didn't say a word as they both slowly exited stage left. The room was now uncomfortably silent, everyone glared at Pit. Pit laughed slowly, "Well, at least this is something we'll laugh about once this is all over...right?"

Pit's response was met with crickets. Fox cleared his throat, not acknowledging Pit's words. "Alright, we're ready for the next fighter!"


	10. Samus Goes Dark

**A/N:** Thanks so much for your patience and support! The past few weeks have been a bit rough so I haven't had the chance to do some writing. The audition in this chapter kind of takes a back seat, but I wanted to do something a little bit different this time around. There will be a couple of changes in the upcoming chapters just to make this more fun and interesting to write, but let me know if these are welcome changes or not. Enjoy!

* * *

 **Chapter 9 – Samus Goes Dark**

"Alright, who's next?" Wii Fit Trainer announced to the crowd of fighters backstage, all of whom raised their hands, begging to join the stage next.

All except for one fighter. She separated herself from the crowd, barely visible in the dimly lit area. She stood with her left leg bent slightly higher. While Wii Fit Trainer was trying to decide who would go on stage next, this bounty hunter showed no hesitation. She walked onto the stage confidently, completely avoiding Wii Fit Trainer's radar.

Samus looked up at the stage to see a replica of her Phazon Suit standing before her, immediately shouting "Oh for fuck's sake this is not happening again!"

"What? What's the problem now?" Fox sighed, looking over at Samus slamming her fists down on the table.

Samus grunted, "Take a look for yourself, Fox. Dark Samus is here!"

Fox looked up at Dark Samus, who silently stood before still. "What's the big deal? We've seen her in the past. She used to be an assist trophy."

"Yeah, I know!" Samus argued, "And I was angry to see her then, I didn't think we'd see her now! First Ridley, now Dark Samus? Why does the universe hate me?"

"Okay, so I have a question for you, Samus," Peach asked, turning her head to face Samus. She pointed over at Dark Samus, "So... is _this_ Metroid?"

Little Mac chimed in, "I was about to ask the same question, to be honest."

Samus scoffed, "Ugh, I'm not even going to answer that question. This is some bullshit."

Dark Samus stilled stood in front of the judges, saying nothing. Peach looked back toward Dark Samus and smiled cheerfully, she began to speak louder and much slower, "Hi, Dark Samus. My name is Peach. Do you speak English?"

Dark Samus cackled in a deep voice. Shortly after, a Mii with dark, shoulder length hair and dark eyes walked ran onto the stage, carrying a handful of note cards in her hands. Samus rolled her eyes as the Mii stood next to Dark Samus. While Dark Samus remained silent, the Mii was still getting everything together, "Super sorry, give me one moment! I didn't realize my client was on stage until it was too late."

Pit smiled, "No worries! Take your time!"

"No," Samus grunted. "Let's get this done and over with. I want this trash off of the stage so that we can see better, more original fighters come up here."

Peach gasped, "Oh my gosh, Samus! That's so rude of you to say to that poor Mii! She's just trying to get herself together."

The Mii paused and looked over at Peach, "Did Samus really say that I was trash?"

"No, no no no no no. No!" Samus immediately shouted, in an attempt to save herself. "I called Dark Samus trash because she is awful. Peach _technically_ was the one who called you trash."

The Mii's blank stare turned into a face full of rage, it was now Peach's turn to explain herself.

"I mean," Peach began, her voice starting to trail off, "I'm sorry I misconstrued what Samus was saying. I don't think you're trash, um...sorry I didn't catch your name?"

"My name is Guest D," she began, "And I think you're full of shit, Princess."

Samus let out a sinister grin as Guest D started giving Peach the evil eyes. Peach sat up in her seat, uncomfortably, and shut her mouth.

"Hey, let's actually just skip through the interview and just see your moves?" Little Mac shrugged, attempting to move the audition along.

"I don't think we need to see anything," Samus argued. "She's just going to use the same moves I have. I mean, her name is _Dark_ Samus. We all know _Dark_ Pit is an echo of Pit, I don't think she's going to reinvent the wheel. For that reason alone, I'm saying no. Goodbye!"

"Um, neither of you have the jurisdiction to be speaking right now," Fox interjected. "Dark Samus, Guest D, as head judge, tell me a little bit about yourself."

"You're not head judge," Samus argued. "There is no head judge. We all get paid the same amount for this!"

"Yeah, and we aren't even getting paid to do this," Pit announced.

Peach's eyes went wide, "Wait. We aren't getting paid to do this? What do you mean?"

Little Mac turned over to Peach, bringing up a piece of paper with a dollar sign crossed out. "Well, Peach, as you can see from this diagram, we aren't getting paid to do this. Meaning, that we are just volunteers technically."

"I-I was not informed," Peach stuttered. "I could've sworn we were all getting paid for this."

Little Mac scoffed, "Aren't you rich? You don't even need the money!"

Guest D looked over at Dark Samus, lifting her brow. Dark Samus shrugged in confusion as the judges continued to argue. Within minutes, Guest D started to shout, "All of you need to shut up! This isn't about you assholes, this is about my client! She wants to be part of _Super Smash Brothers Ultimate_. She waited on line all day long yesterday and today. Stop thinking about yourselves for once and consider those who just want to take five minutes to share their moves with you!"

Samus stood up from her seat, "You know what, Guest D, you're right. Sometimes, we have a habit of thinking about ourselves just a little too much. In fact, I quit, actually."

The room gasped as they all turned to Samus. Fox looked at Samus angrily, "What do you mean you quit? You can't just quit!"

Samus scoffed, "Well, I'm doing it. I'm quitting. I'll see you all when the auditions are done."

As Samus walked toward the exit, Fox stopped her in her tracks and pointed at Samus, "If you quit, you're off the roster, Samus. You can't compete anymore!"

Samus laughed, "That's an empty threat and you know it. You don't have the power to remove me from the roster. We already announced that everyone is here! Think of all the backlash when both Samus and Zero Suit Samus aren't battling!"

Fox slowly retracted his finger, "Y-you're right, I guess. I can't really stop you from quitting, can I?"

"Nope. Have a good one, bye!" Samus announced, slamming the door behind her.

The room was silent, and all of the judges looked at each other. Luigi ran on stage quickly, "Samus quit? Does that mean I get to take her spot now instead?" He asked with a giant grin on his face.

Fox facepalmed, "Ugh." His hand slowly slipped off his face as Luigi started rushing off the stage to take Samus's seat.

"I can't believe this is actually happening. I'm so happy, I could actually cry," Luigi said, wiping a tear away. "So what are we doing, who are we judging? Oh my, I don't even care, I'm just excited that I'm not going to get beat up for once!"

"Yeah, about that," Fox responded slowly. "What are we going to do if we don't have a punching bag? Someone's got to take one for the team, and Luigi, you're the best at getting beat up."

"Yeah, it can't be me," Peach argued, patting her pink dress "This is a new dress, I can't get it dirty!"

"Well, I'm not doing it," Luigi argued. "I've done it long enough, and I've been here since the beginning. I think I deserve to be a judge."

"Ugh, fine," Fox grunted. "You can judge, if only because we literally need a fifth judge here, and you're just at the right place at the right time."

"Hooray!" Luigi cheered. "So who are we judging?"

Guest D cleared her throat, "Dark Samus! Dark Samus is the one auditioning. We've been up here for five minutes and you've barely given us the time of day! What is this bullshit?" She asked angrily.

"You make a great point, Guest D," Pit explained. "I don't think we even need to see Dark Samus's moves. We might as well just let her in, she's been patient."

"No, no, I want to see her moves!" Luigi argued, "Without me getting beat up for once."

Peach rolled her eyes, "Can we just see Dark Samus's moves? I'm pretty sure they're the same as Samus's, but let's just see them already so everyone can shut up!"

Guest D smiled, "Yeah, so, Dark Samus is an extremely intelligent antagonist from the _Metroid_ series as you all know. There aren't really any female antagonist's in the _Smash Bros_ roster, so we're excited to add some diversity to the cast."

"Diversity? If Dark Samus does get in, we'll have three Samus's," Peach argued. "What's so diverse about that? One Samus is more than enough for me!"

"Listen, you little shit," Guest D responded angrily, "I'm tired of hearing your voice, so shut up or I'll make Dark Samus attack you!"

"Oh, really?" Peach asked. "I can give Dark Samus a no if that's what you want, Guest D. I have the power to make your client not make it into _Super Smash Brothers_. I would stay on my good side if I were you."

Guest D crossed her arms and grunted, "Whatever. We've waited long enough, let's just let Dark Samus do her thing."

"Alright," Fox shrugged. "You're right, Guest D, we've wasted way too much time. Go right ahead, Dark Samus."

Dark Samus let out another deep cackle as she aimed her charge shot straight at the judges. All of the judges gasped and hid under the table for safety. Her shot blasted toward the table, destroying the table and the chairs that the judges were hiding under. The only exception being Peach's throne, which still remained intact, but was now crushing her. As Fox and Luigi were able to get off the floor, they lifted the throne off of Peach, allowing her to get off the floor as well.

"Well," Fox sighed, putting his hands on his hips, "This is certainly a predicament."

The judges looked around the audition room. The regal table provided by Villager was now destroyed into a ton of pieces. The four plastic chairs were also in poor condition as well.

Little Mac dusted himself off the ground and walked over to Luigi, "This is all your fault. Dark Samus didn't have anyone to attack, so she attacked all of us instead!"

"This isn't Luigi's fault," Peach argued. "It's Samus's fault for quitting on us! The nerve!"

"Alright, alright!" Fox announced, walking over toward Peach, Little Mac, and Luigi. "Let's not start this now. Let's just finish this stupid audition, and then everyone can clear the air. Alright?"

Little Mac scoffed, "Fine. Carry on."

Fox walked over to Guest D and Dark Samus, both of whom were chuckling as the judges continued squander. "If you guys leave right now, then Dark Samus can join the roster. We good?"

Guest D nodded, "Alright, it's settled. Pleasure doing business with you."

The two cackled off the stage, as Fox turned around to see the other four judges arguing in each others faces. "Alright, alright! Shut up! This is getting out of hand!" Fox shouted. Luigi, Peach, Little Mac, and Pit didn't respond to Fox's outcry and continued to argue.

This caused Fox to snap, "You know what? I quit too!"

The four judges stopped, Little Mac raised his brow, "Wait, you're quitting too? Why?"

Fox grunted, "If this is how we're spending the entire day, with all of us fighting with each other, I'm not sticking around. Just do this without me."

"But, Fox," Peach began, putting her hand on Fox's shoulder in an effort to console him, "You're literally the glue that holds us together. Without you, nothing will get done."

"Really? Because even with me, you all constantly bickered the entire time. I'm done. It's not worth it anymore. I have better things to do with my life," Fox sighed.

Pit scratched the back of his head, "Alright, well, if that's how you feel, man, I understand."

Luigi and Little Mac silently nodded. Peach, bit her lip and ultimately sighed, "I think this is a bad idea, but what am I even going to say that will convince you to stick around?"

Fox kept a straight face, "Exactly. Best of luck with the rest of these auditions. I expect this to be a shit show, but it's not my problem, so I don't really care."

As Fox exited the room, Peach looked around at Pit, Little Mac, and Luigi all of whom remained silent.

Peach sighed, "Well, I guess the first order of business is we need a replacement for Fox. Anyone know who we should get?"

At that moment, Captain Falcon slammed the door open, "Guys! What's going on in here? I saw Samus and Fox leaving here claiming that they quit?"

Peach walked over toward Captain Falcon, "Well, you see, it's a long story, where do I begin?"

"Samus got angry that Dark Samus was auditioning and decided that she was going to quit, so we replaced her with Luigi. Then, after Dark Samus attacked us all, Fox quit because he was tired of us all fighting," Little Mac explained, speaking quickly.

Peach's eyes widened, "Well, I guess it's not as long as I thought it would be. Anyway, what's really concerning is that we're short a judge right now and need a replacement."

"Oh, yeah, that's quite a predicament you've got there," Captain Falcon responded, stroking his nonexistent beard. "I wonder who would be a great fit for this?"

Pit's eyes beamed, "Captain Falcon, you should do it! Everyone loves you and you're literally the only other person here. What could go wrong?"

Captain Falcon smiled, "Everyone _loves_ me? I'm in! This is going to be great!"

Captain Falcon reached in and hugged the others. Peach looked at Little Mac with a look of concern, "Oh no," the princess muttered, "This is going to be a mess isn't it?"


	11. Princess Peach vs the World

**A/N:** Thanks for your patience, guys! I'm surprised to see a lack of uproar about the change in judges. I think for me personally the slight change and mini storyline for the judges makes writing this a little bit more fun. We'll definitely see where it goes!

This chapter is certainly much longer than all of the other chapters and features a bunch of different fighters, so I hope that you guys really enjoy this chapter. Next one will be your regularly scheduled auditions, haha.

* * *

 **Chapter 10 – Lightning Round: Princess Peach vs. the World**

Peach sat the dusty floor with her fist up against her cheek and let out a small sigh. Luigi and Captain Falcon, sitting on the floor next to her, were getting ready to get situated with the auditions. Luigi, who had a pen but no notebook, tried to write down "Audition Notes" on the floor, not realizing that the blue ink would show up on the black floor, especially since the lighting was relatively dim. Captain Falcon, on the other hand, seemed calm, cool and collected. Even though Captain Falcon literally has no experience being a judge, his confident demeanor allowed Peach, Pit, and Little Mac at least feel a little bit more at ease with the situation.

Pit pulled Peach and Little Mac closer to him, muttering, "So, do you think this is going to work out? You know, without Fox and Samus?"

Little Mac scoffed, "No way, man. Have you seen how our last few auditions went? Those two were the glue keeping us together! Ever since they left, our table and our chairs got destroyed."

Peach nodded in agreement, "So, how much are we going to bet that this building collapses in on us before the end of the day? I'm willing to bet one hundred coins on this. A whole 1-up. What do you guys think?"

"Hey," Luigi interrupted. "Are we having a judge meeting? Cause I don't want to feel left out!"

Pit pushed Peach and Little Mac away from him, "Oh, sorry, I was just asking both Peach and Little Mac a random question. Nothing important, heh!"

Captain Falcon chimed in, "Well, what was it about? We're a team, so everything should be shared with us as a group."

Pit started sweating nervously, "It's really nothing important. I was just telling a joke, it clearly wasn't very funny, nobody laughed at it. Not even me, and I love my own jokes a lot!"

Captain Falcon crossed his arms and smirked, "Try me. I love jokes."

"Uh..." Pit began, trying to come up with something to say. Peach and Little Mac gained a secondhand embarrassment as Pit's fillers echoed in the room. Both started scooting slightly farther away, as if the distance would possibly alleviate them of this embarrassment.

"We were just talking about how a lot of the fighters who've auditioned have really bad B.O. That's all," Peach said in an attempt to cover Pit's ass.

"Hm..." Captain Falcon began. "You're right. It seems like a lot of the Smash following have never heard of deodorant that's for sure."

"Yeah, you seem to be one of them," Luigi responded, waving his hand in hopes of wafting Captain Falcon's scent away from him.

Captain Falcon kept a slight distance from Luigi before shouting, "Alright, fighters, it's time to show me your moves!"

* * *

The first audition for Captain Falcon and Luigi a slender blue vixen. She stood center stage with a staff in hand, as she looked out over the five judges sitting on the floor, her face contorted in confusion, "I thought Fox was a judge here."

Peach sighed, "You...you just missed him, I'm afraid. He just quit. What's your name?"

The vixen scoffed and crossed her arms, "Ugh, that sucks. He said I was practically a shoe-in for this, and now he's not even here," she began. "I'm Krystal, I'm from the _Star Fox_ series. Fox kind of has a crush on me."

"Kind of? Fox once went on a rant about how beautiful you are!" Pit interrupted. "He definitely has a crush on you."

Krystal giggled, "Well, good thing he's not here then. Wouldn't want him to get embarrassed on the job."

"I'd love to see him get embarrassed on the Battlefield though," Peach retorted. "So show us what you've got!"

Krystal looked around the stage, "Um...can I get a volunteer to do this on? I don't know who or what I'm supposed to attack," she giggled.

Peach turned her head toward Luigi and let out a sinister smile, "Luigi, could you be a doll and be Krystal's volunteer?"

Luigi sighed, slowly getting up from off the ground and onto the stage with his head lowered. The sound of his shoes clacking on the ground was painfully slow. Peach, Pit, and Little Mac rolled their eyes as Luigi slowly got next to Krystal. Krystal, without hesitation, smacked Luigi with her staff. As Luigi fell to the ground, Krystal pointed her staff over to Luigi. Ice began to emerge from the staff, freezing Luigi.

"Wait wait wait, hold up, hold up," Captain Falcon interrupted. Krystal paused as she was about to put another attack on Mario's little brother. She turned over to Captain Falcon who got up from the ground, as if he was preparing an important speech.

"No pun intended, but you're a pretty cool chick, Krystal," Captain Falcon began, putting his arms on his hips. Pit and Little Mac chuckled lightly. Peach, on the other hand, squinted her eyes, ready to here Captain Falcon's catch.

"But," Captain Falcon began, turning toward his fellow judges, "We already have the Ice Climbers. We don't need more ice attacks in _Super Smash Brothers_."

Pit and Little Mac nodded in agreement, "Totally, Captain Falcon, you're so right," Pit proclaimed. He turned over to Little Mac, whispering "He's so freaking cool" into the boxer's ear.

Peach rose up from the ground, "I disagree. We haven't seen all of Krystal's moves yet. What can you really expect? There's way more to her than meets the eye!"

"I don't think so," Captain Falcon argued, "I think we've seen what we've needed to see. All of the other _Star Fox_ fighters have similar moves, I don't think Krystal has anything else that is different."

"Well, actually, I-" Krystal began.

"Hold that thought, Krystal!" Peach interrupted, "I just think that's not fair for Krystal. Let's actually let her fight a little bit more before we jump into conclusions."

Captain Falcon shrugged, "I think we've all seen enough, so let's vote. All in favor to feature Krystal as an assist trophy say I!"

"I!" Little Mac and Pit announced.

Peach bit her tongue as her face turned red with anger. Captain Falcon turned over toward Luigi, who was now beginning to thaw, "Luigi, what about you? What do you think?"

"I'm going to pass," Luigi responded, his teeth chattering as he slowly began to warm up.

"Well, I say yes," Peach said, attempting to keep her cool.

Captain Falcon laughed, "Well you're outnumbered, Peach. Krystal, congratulations! You're an assist trophy. Looking forward to seeing you on the battlefield occasionally."

Krystal sighed, "Whatever, I guess I'll take it."

As Krystal walked off the stage, Peach turned over to Captain Falcon, "What the fuck was that, Falcon!? You're supposed to let the fighter show all of their moves!"

Captain Falcon took a couple steps back in an attempt to keep some distance from Peach, "Wow, this is not what I was expecting from you. I've never seen you this angry! I didn't think you'd take this so seriously."

Peach walked closer to Captain Falcon and slapped him in the face, "Now that Fox and Samus are gone, I have to put on the pants on! Which is something I can't believe I'm saying, I would never be caught dead in pants."

"Alright, well, sorry I guess," Captain Falcon muttered slowly. "I promise I won't jump to conclusions next time."

* * *

As the judges settled down, a teenager with blue eyes and brown hair walked onto the stage with his Keyblade in hand. As he reached center stage, he smirked as he lifted the blade, "What's up? I'm Sora, and I think I would be a great fit for _Smash Bros._ "

Captain Falcon saluted Sora, "Nice to meet you, man! Say, what universe are you from again? You don't seem familiar."

"Oh, I'm from the _Kingdom Hearts_ series," Sora explained.

Captain Falcon turned his head toward the judges, "That's third-party right guys?"

Pit nodded, "Yup! I'm the residential video game nerd here and _Kingdom Hearts_ is a third-party series that's a collaboration between Square Enix and Disney."

Captain Falcon's eyes widened, as he turned his head back to Sora, "Hey, man, I'm sorry, it's a no."

Sora squinted his eyes and cocked his head, "What? Why?"

"I can just feel the Mickey Mouse and all of the Disney lawyers breathing down our necks at this very moment. Sorry, it's nothing personal," Captain Falcon responded, breathing heavily.

"Or, a better idea," Peach quickly chimed in, "Sora shows his capabilities, and if we like them, we just say that we'll get in touch with his lawyers and see if Sora can join?"

Captain Falcon took a moment to think about it, "No, not a great idea. It's not going to happen."

"Well," Peach argued, "What does everyone else prefer? My idea or Captain Falcon's?"

"Well, I like your idea, ma'am," Sora responded. "Let's do that."

"Sora, you don't even have a say in this decision," Captain Falcon complained. "Why are you even still here? Shouldn't you be giving me a cease and desist or something like that?"

Peach facepalmed, as she turned toward Little Mac and Pit. Both of whom were a little skeptical about the decision.

"Um..." Pit began, "I guess I'll side with Captain Falcon, just to be safe."

"Yeah, me too," Little Mac agreed.

"We're running behind anyway," Luigi explained, "We don't have time to see someone's moves if we know they're not going to be able to even fight."

"Alright, well it's decided! Sorry, Sora," Captain Falcon said.

Peach didn't say a word, she let out a loud grunt as Sora left the room, not even saying a word.

* * *

A little yellow star with black eyes and a wide smile waved as he stood center stage, "It's great to see you all again! It's me! Starfy!"

Captain Falcon waved, "So, are you just going to do the same thing you always do. Spin around and not really fight all that much?"

Starfy's smile faded slightly, "Um...yeah, I guess so."

Captain Falcon scoffed, "Alright, well I don't need to see it. All in favor of making Starfy an assist trophy say I!"

The men all agreed, "I!" They shouted in agreement.

Peach, on the other hand, didn't say a word the entire audition, she crossed her arms and closed her eyes, her head lifted up toward the dark ceiling. It was clear that with Captain Falcon here, the panel was starting to become a bit of a boy's club, and for once, she was actually kind of missing Samus.

Starfy sighed and began to walk off the stage.

"Wait! Starfy!" Luigi shouted, "I have a job for you."

Starfy turned back toward Luigi and began to smile again, "You do? What is it?"

Luigi stood up and rushed toward the edge of the stage where Starfy was standing. Luigi's head completely level with Starfy's body. "You can take my job and be the resident punching bag. That way I don't have to keep doing it!"

Starfy's smile, once again, faded, "Uh...okay I guess," he sighed slowly.

* * *

A green Kappa drove onto the stage, halting as he came close to the center, "Argh, me name be Kapp'n. Yee about to see what I can do as an aseest trophy!"

Kapp'n's thick accent proved to be a little tough for the judges to understand, "Um...what was that you just said?" Luigi asked.

Kapp'n didn't respond, but drove his bus ahead, crashing into Starfy, who was in Kapp'n's line of fire. Starfy was forced into the bus that Kapp'n drove straight ahead, crashing into the walls. The sounds of screaming and screeching were heard throughout the building. The bus's screeching slowly began to fade away.

Peach got off the floor and got closer to the giant hole in the wall that Kapp'n created. She walked toward the opening, shouting "Can you take Captain Falcon and Luigi with you as well? They've been getting on my last nerve!"

* * *

The White Bomberman walked on to the stage, looking over at the open hole to his left. He didn't say a word but simply scratched his head in confusion.

Guest A, Ridley's former employee turned victim, followed Bomberman on stage, completely bandaged up. "I can't believe I'm back here."

Little Mac smiled, "Guest A! I'm glad to see you're back! We were worried about you."

"Wait, really?"

"Uh...well...no, not really. I just said that because I thought it'd make you feel better. Clearly, I was wrong, your face is still expressionless."

Guest A rolled his eyes, "Well, anyway, here is my new client, Bomberman. He's from the _Bomberman_ series, obviously, and he's going to show his moves. Take it away," the Mii announced with no excitement in his voice.

Bomberman took out a bomb and threw it at Guest A. Guest A screamed in pain, "Hey what the f-"

Guest A was then interrupted by the explosion of the bomb. As Guest A flew off the stage, and onto the floor next to Little Mac, Wii Fit Trainer ran onto the stage. "Guest A, I'll save you again," the trainer announced in a rushed tone and attempted CPR in an attempt to save his life.

"Is that all you have to show for us?" Captain Falcon asked, "Because that would make a great assist trophy, and that's about it."

Bomberman nodded and bowed before the judges. Captain Falcon cocked his head toward Peach and smirked. Peach sighed, "Yeah, I can't argue with you on that one, I guess."

Bomberman waved as he walked off the stage. Wii Fit Trainer turned over toward the judges, "Someone call an ambulance, he's not responding. I think he's dead!" She grabbed Guest A and ran out of the room. The judges sat in silence, confused.

"Yeah, well, CPR doesn't really work when someone was bombed essentially," Peach muttered.

* * *

"So, let me get this straight, Ashley," Captain Falcon began, "You were the one that leaked the whole _Castlevania_ announcement earlier today?"

The petite, black-haired witch nodded, "Yeah, though you could also blame Pit, he was the one who couldn't keep his mouth shut."

Captain Falcon and Peach looked over at Pit and glared, Pit started sweating nervously, "What can I say? I love _Castlevania_!"

"And I love to stir up drama," Ashley retorted. "Let me show you."

Ashley hopped off the stage, next to the judges, and conjured a purple cloud around everyone. Pit, who was eating a sandwich, felt an odd sense of pain with each bite he took. "Ow, food has never caused me such pain before!" He declared.

"Then stop eating!" Peach responded, clearly getting frustrated.

"I can't," Pit argued, "It tastes so good!"

Peach sighed and turned her head over toward where Captain Falcon and Luigi were sitting, however, both were nowhere to be seen. "Oh my gosh, are they gone? Did they get bored and leave or something?"

"No," Luigi announced, "We're just invisible now. We've been here this whole time."

"Ugh," Peach sighed as she covered her face with her hands. "This isn't anything new, so all in favor for Ashley reprising her role as an assist trophy say I."

"I!" The room echoed.

Ashley's purple cloud disappeared, and without saying a word, she walked out of the room. Little Mac scratched his head in confusion, "What an odd girl."

Peach pulled her hands away from her face and crossed her arms, "I thought she said she was going to stir up more drama."

* * *

A young girl with red glasses, short brunette hair, and a giant green pencil walked onto the stage. She noticed the judges starting to doze off as they were all laying on the ground.

"Hello?" The girl announced shyly.

Her voice elicited no response. Captain Falcon was taking a nap on the floor, Peach was on her phone, angrily texting something to someone, Pit and Little Mac were both playing on their Nintendo 3DSes, and Luigi was admiring a photo of Daisy. The girl's response was to draw an alarm clock to gain everyone's attention. The judges jumped and immediately gave her their undivided attention.

"So sorry about that," Peach giggled. "Thanks for getting our attention. Please tell us about yourself!"

The girl smiled and put her giant pencil down. "Hi there, my name is Nikki. I used to be the mascot of _Swapnote_ but then that got discontinued, and I lost my job. Then I was featured in _Nikki's Travel Quiz_ for the Japanese Club Nintendo members, then I lost that job. Now I'm the host of _Swapdoodle_ , which I guess is kind of like _Swapnote_ , but the point is I'm a really good doodler."

"Wow, I didn't expect to hear your whole resume, but it was certainly interesting," Captain Falcon responded slowly. "What moves are you going to show us today?"

Nikki picked up her pencil, "I'm auditioning to be an assist trophy. I can bring my drawings to life during the fight when I'm summoned. Let me show you!"

Nikki got off of the stage and got near the judges. All five of the judges grew a look of concern as she jumped off the stage. After all, why couldn't she just show her doodles coming to life on the stage? Nikki did not read the room, however, and began drawing a bullet bill, standing toward the left of Captain Falcon. As she finished drawing the bill, Peach, Little Mac, and Pit moved out of the way slightly. Captain Falcon, looking doubtful that this would be of any use, stood right in front of the bullet bill. Luigi, on the other hand, just wasn't paying any attention to Nikki.

The bullet bill began to charge, and because Captain Falcon and Luigi were in the bill's line of sight, were immediately hit and dragged across the room. Captain Falcon and Luigi began screaming as the bullet bill broke through the wall. However, the bullet bill did not stop and continued breaking through everything in its way. The sounds of screaming throughout the building returned again as Peach, Pit, and Little Mac looked over at Nikki, who was shyly smiling, her hands and her pencil behind her back.

"That was, without a doubt, the best audition that happened all day!" Peach declared. "You finally got rid of Captain Falcon and Luigi, I've practically been trying to do that all day. You can have whatever you want. Do you want to be a fighter? I'll make it happen!"

"No, no," Nikki said, giggling. "I don't want to fight, I just want to be an assist trophy."

Peach turned over to Pit and Little Mac, "What do you guys think? Yes? No?"

"Well," Pit began, "She did cause a lot of destruction to this building, which is generally frowned upon but-"

Pit was interrupted by Peach slamming her heel onto Pit's foot. Pit screamed in agony, "Ow! Okay! Okay! Yes, she can be an assist trophy!"

"What about you, Little Mac, any objections?" Peach asked, as a frying pan seemingly appeared in her hand.

Little Mac's face began to pale, "Uh...yeah, sure! Whatever you'd like Peach. Please don't hurt me!"

Peach squinted at both Pit and Little Mac before she put the frying pan away. She turned back to Nikki and let out a giant smile. "Congratulations, Nikki! You're an assist trophy! We can't wait to see you stirring up some trouble starting this December!"

Nikki fixed her glasses and smiled, "Wow! I can't believe this is happening! Thanks so much, guys! So, where do I exit?"

Peach pointed toward the giant hole in the wall. Nikki smiled and shook Peach's hand before walking out of the audition room. Peach turned back to Pit and Little Mac and smiled, "You know what this means, right guys?"

Little Mac looked around at the audition room, which was now in shambles. Giant gashes in the wall were now all over the place, the only table and chairs in the room were completely broken, and the lights above the stage were beginning to flicker. "That we really need to fix this building up? Like right now?"

"No, silly," Peach smiled. "It means that we can get Fox and Samus back!"

Pit scratched the back of his head in confusion, "How? They both said they were quitting."

"Yeah, that was literally hours ago too, how will we be able to find them?" Little Mac asked.

"And how will we be able to convince them to come back?" Pit continued. "We just have a lot of questions as to how this will work, you know?"

"Listen," Peach began, "I don't really know. However, I think I can make it happen. You guys sit tight and take care of the next audition, I'm going to see if I can get into contact with Fox and Samus and convince them to come back."

"Wait, you want us to do the auditions without you?" Little Mac asked. "Just the two of us? The two that contribute the absolute least to every audition."

"Yeah, we can't do this alone. What happens if we disagree? How will we make any decisions?" Pit questioned.

Peach shrugged, "I don't know, but I feel like you guys can handle it. I don't think you guys have ever disagreed on any of the other auditions."

"Yeah, but that's because we just hop on the bandwagon pretty much all of the time. We don't have any original thoughts," Little Mac responded.

"Well, that sounds like a personal problem. Good luck!" Peach declared as she walked out through the giant hole in the wall that Nikki created.

Little Mac and Pit stood across from each other and stared nervously. Little Mac gulped, "You ready, Pit?"

Pit clenched his fists, "About as ready as I'll ever be," he declared. "Wii Fit Trainer, we're ready for the next fighter!"


	12. Google Chrom

**A/N:** Hey guys! Thanks for your patience! The new chapter is here. I've been struggling to get into the zone to write this, but I'm happy to say that I am ready to work on this more. My goal is to have the next chapter up this weekend too! We'll be returning to regularly schedule auditions as the side plot reaches its end. Hope you enjoy!

* * *

 **Chapter 11 – Google Chrom**

Peach slammed the door open to the judge's break room, the one room in the building that may not actually be falling apart. The princess was under the (incorrect) belief that Samus and Fox would happen to be there. Not surprisingly, however, the room was empty. The stack of plastic cups rested on top of the nearly empty water cooler, there were a couple of fold up chairs sitting in a row. Peach turned her head to the left and stared at her reflection.

Peach sighed, "I'm so stupid! Of course, Fox and Samus aren't here, it's been hours since they left. Guess this is going to harder than I thought." She sat down on one of the chairs and looked toward the mirror, fixing her makeup. She scrolled through her phone and typed up a text message to Samus and Fox.

" _Hey, what can we do to get you guys back? This is a disaster!"_ Peach wrote.

Samus responded immediately, _"_ _There's no way I'm coming back."_

" _Pleaseeeeeee,"_ Peach replied. _"_ _I'll do anything!"_

A couple of moments passed before Peach's phone vibrated to see that Samus responded, _"_ _Shave your head, then."_

Peach rolled her eyes before writing back, _"_ _Anything but that! Let's be realistic here."_

" _Well, I tried to be reasonable."_

Peach sat back in her chair and sighed. This was going clearly much harder than she anticipated. She expected Samus to be difficult with her, but she was more shocked that Fox, who clearly cared more about the auditions, hadn't even seen the messages yet. Peach escaped the break room and searched for a discreet exit from the building, just to avoid the crowds that would bother her with every step she took.

* * *

Pit put his arms on Little Mac's shoulder, with desperation in his voice, "Okay, we've got this, man! We can do this! Just fake it 'til you make it! Right? _Right?_ "

Little Mac shrugged, "I mean, I guess so."

Neither Pit nor Little Mac asked Wii Fit Trainer to bring in the next fighter. However, when they turned back toward the stage, they both jumped in shock to see a buff swordsman with short, dark hair standing before them.

Pit screamed, "Where did you come from? How long have you been there?"

The swordsman spoke eloquently, "The fitness trainer gave me the okay to come up here. Are auditions still going on? I thought there was going to be more than two of you here."

"We're going through some technical difficulties, so it's just going to be us auditioning you," Little Mac smiled, articulating each and every word that came out of his mouth.

The swordsman began to look a little uncomfortable and stiffened up, "Is...everything okay?"

"Yeah," Pit began, "Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah. We're completely fine. Why don't you uh...tell us about yourself."

Chrom stood up straight, and took out his sword, "I am Chrom, prince of the Halidom of Ylisse. My daughter, Lucina, is on the roster for _Smash Bros,_ as well as a distant descendent of Marth. I auditioned last time and you guys didn't let me in. I said I'd get my chance someday, and today is that day. I anticipated quite a few more faces in this room, however."

"Oh, you're from _Fire Emblem,_ right?" Pit's pep returned to his voice.

"Yeah," Chrom replied, "Why?"

Pit turned to Little Mac and smiled, "This is an easy one! _Fire Emblem_ characters are super predictable anyway!"

"The fuck did you just say?" Chrom interrupted, he stood closer toward the edge of the stage, causing Pit and Little Mac to take a couple of steps back.

Pit began to sweat "I don't mean that in a mean way," he started, "It's just that, your moves aren't going to be much different than say Marth or Roy or Lucina's. Am I wrong?"

"Well," Chrom scratched the back of his head, "No. I borrow a lot of my moves from Roy and Ike."

"You know what they say," Little Mac smiled, "Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery."

Pit and Little Mac then looked back at each other nervously, Little Mac got a little closer muttering "Do we just tell him to fight? We don't even have anyone here for him to fight!"

Pit's eyes opened wide, "Oh crap! We forgot about that, didn't we? What do we do?"

"I've got an idea," Little Mac muttered, "But you have to stay here with Chrom."

Little Mac ran off before Pit could even get a word in edgewise. The angel looked up at Chrom, who was clearly confused about what was happening. Little Mac opened the door and the sound of the roaring crowd began to erupt. Pit, having no idea what to say or do, tried to fill the awkward silence. "So...Chrom, what video games do you like?"

Chrom raised his eyebrow, "Excuse me? What does this have to do with the audition?"

"Oh, you know, trying to fill the time before Little Mac returns. Besides, if you join us we'll know a little bit more about each other, right?"

* * *

The sound of glasses clinking vigorously filled the pub. Peach had just arrived, with her phone on hand. Fox was completely ghosting the princess. Meanwhile, Samus would only respond with sarcastic remarks. Peach sat at the bar, beginning to feel a little dejected. She ordered a gin and tonic and began to tap her fingers on the counter. She looked around the pub, noticing a crowd of somewhat recognizable fighters. Some including Waluigi, who was declaring some manifesto in one of the back corners of the building, claiming one day he'll weasel his way into _Smash Bros._ A bunch of Pokémon trainers who were complaining that their Pokémon was _the_ best representative for the next fight at a table close to the bar as well.

The bartender provided Peach's drink. Peach, without hesitation, chugged the glass and asked for another. She then turned her head to see someone who looked a whole lot like Fox sitting across from a minx, who was so clearly Krystal. It seemed like the two were having a heated conversation. When the bartender provided her with another glass of gin and tonic, she grabbed her glass and walked over to the table, shouting "I finally found you! Why didn't you answer _any_ of my texts?"

Fox turned his head around and gasped as he saw the princess, with her arms crossed and a fuming expression on her face. Fox turned back toward Krystal and chuckled, "This...isn't what it looks like..."

"Oh, Peach!" Krystal smiled, "Good to see you again! What...are you doing here?"

"I'm here to talk to Fox, it's been an absolute shitstorm since you and Samus left. We tried to get Captain Falcon and Luigi to replace you guys and they sucked so bad! What can I do to get you back? I'll pay you! I'll buy you a drink. Literally anything!"

"Uh..." Fox began, clearly seeming a little uncomfortable, "I guess it'd be funny if you shaved your head?"

Peach slammed her foot on the ground, "Besides that! Are you and Samus on the same wavelength or something here?"

Krystal nudged herself into the conversation, "Well, I mean, they did both quit."

"Shut up, Krystal! This isn't about you!" Peach said, shocking both Fox and Krystal. "Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry, that came out too rough. I think you're amazing and were absolutely gipped out of being a part of _Smash Bros._ But I'm here because Fox and Samus are literally the only two who know what the fuck they're doing, and we need your help! So, I wanted to let you know that I'm just a princess, standing in front of a fox, begging him to come back to work."

Fox turned back to Krystal and chuckled, "Well, that speech was really...something, Peach. I feel like you guys can clearly do it without me."

Peach scoffed, "Didn't you hear me? I said that it's just me, Little Mac, and Pit, and because _I'm here talking to you_ , it's now just Little Mac and Pit."

Fox paused for a handful of seconds, letting Peach's comment sink in, "That must be an absolute disaster. I don't know if I can sit around idly while Little Mac and Pit just bring everything to shit."

Fox got out of his seat and turned to Krystal, "This is really important so I gotta do this. You understand right?"

Before Krystal could respond the two rushed out of the pub. Krystal sighed and muttered to herself, "Yeah...sure...you said you were going to pay, but you know, whatever."

Peach and Fox walked down the street, "So, how did you find me, anyway?" Fox asked.

Peach walked quickly, causing Fox to rush behind her in hopes of not getting left behind, "Pure luck, honestly," she responded, "I honestly had just given up and wanted to get a drink instead. Anyway, how are we gonna get Samus back?"

Fox smirked, "I may have an idea, but it might cost some of your pride."

Peach stopped in her tracks, "Exactly what do you want me to do?"

* * *

Little Mac dragged Wii Fit Trainer onto the stage, right next to Chrom, "You don't mind being the punching back, right Wii Fit Trainer?"

The Wii Fit Trainer smiled, "It's not a problem. I can handle it. Just know that I will fight back, Chrom!"

Chrom shrugged, "Alright. Just glad that we're finally getting this done and over with."

"That's the spirit!" Wii Fit Trainer smiled, giving Chrom a thumbs up.

Little Mac got off the stage and stood next to Pit again. "Alright," Little Mac said, "Fight!"

Wii Fit Trainer began the fight by taking a deep breath. However, she was immediately interrupted by Chrom's double-edge dance. He approached the trainer and attacked with his sword. Chrom then threw the sword up above Wii Fit Trainer's head. He jumped up to grab the sword and slashed down, once again hitting Wii Fit Trainer and causing her to fall to the ground. As the Wii Fit Trainer began to perform a yoga pose and attack Chrom back, Chrom used his counter to stop her in her tracks. While Wii Fit Trainer was down, Chrom continued hitting the trainer with her sword.

The trainer held her hand up in the air, "Okay, I'm calling Uncle! I'm down! You win." She got up from the ground to catch her breath. She walked up to Chrom and shook his hand, "Well done!"

As the handshake ended, Wii Fit Trainer walked off the stage. Chrom pursed his lips and looked back at Pit and Little Mac, who were both smiling uncomfortably. "So, is there anything else you need to see?" Chrom asked.

"No, no. I don't think so," Pit said slowly. "You did great!"

"Great!" Chrom exclaimed, "Any critiques?"

"Uh..." Pit's voice began to squeak. "I guess not? You were good!"

"Yeah, yeah," Little Mac, "I mean, your moves are similar to a lot of other _Fire Emblem_ characters like you mentioned. You could be Roy's echo fighter, I guess?"

"Yeah, nothing to really add," Pit said, "It's not reinventing the wheel, but that's not a bad thing. Plus, there a ton of _Fire Emblem_ fans that want to see you on the battlefield so it's a yes for me!"

"It's a yes for me too, I guess that means you're in!" Little Mac announced as he and Pit began to clap.

The audition was immediately interrupted as Peach and Fox swung open the door to the audition room. Chrom, Little Mac, and Pit turned their heads to see the two standing at the door.

"Sorry, what did we miss?" Fox asked, crossing his arms. "Did we miss much?"

"Uh...well... _you_ definitely did," Pit responded uncomfortably, "Peach just missed Chrom, and he's the only fighter who has joined the roster."

"Oh," Fox responded. He looked over at Chrom, "Well, congratulations for making it! Looking forward to fighting with you on the battlefield."

Chrom slowly walked off the stage, "Well, alright then. This was definitely an _interesting_ experience, to say the least, but I'll see you guys in December."

As the stage was now empty, Pit and Little Mac looked back at Peach and Fox, "So? Where's Samus?"

"We're working on it," Peach declared, taking a deep breath before dialing Samus's number. Peach put the phone on speaker, and the four judges huddled together to hear the conversation.

Samus's voice erupted from the phone, "I've told you a thousand times, Peach, it's not happening! I'm not coming back and there's nothing you can do to change my mind!"

Peach sighed before looking over at Fox, who was nodding lightly, "But...Samus..." she lamented, "You're...s-so much smarter than all of us combined, especially me."

The phone remained silent for a second before Samus responded, "Oh, you finally admit it? I'm smarter than you, Peach?"

Peach, who was starting to turn red, looked back up at Fox, who was nonverbally urging her to respond, "Yes. I'm...I'm...I'm _such_ an _idiot,_ Samus! I can't believe it took me this long to realize it. We need you here with us, otherwise, we'd make terrible decisions! Please! Help us!"

"You're just saying this to get me back, aren't you?" Samus responded, dryly.

Peach sighed, "Ugh, yes, of course, we want you back! We realize we were being a little much for you, but you might just be the glue that holds up together. Also, once you and Fox left it was a disaster. I promise when you come back we'll all make sure not to frustrate you."

Samus sighed as Peach let out a long "Please" over the phone.

The phone, as well as the audition room, went silent before Samus unexpectedly opened the door to the audition room, "Alright, fine. I'm back. Are you happy?"

"Wow, that was quick," Little Mac muttered. "How did you get back here so quick? Where were you?"

Samus put her hand on her hip, "That's not your business, is it, Little Mac?"

Little Mac stepped back, "I mean, it kind of is, isn't it?"

"Well," Samus began, "If you must know, I was trying to get out of the building, but a bunch of rabid fans surrounded me and I couldn't escape."

Fox lifted his brow, "Really? That's what happened?"

Samus sighed, "No, I was trapped in the bathroom. The women's room was out of toilet paper. It's been a really rough day."

Fox smirked, "Well, we've got enough time for a couple more auditions today, so let's not waste any time."

While the judges still didn't have any tables or chairs, the group walked back toward the stage and sat down on the floor. Fox sighed, "I forgot that this was our current predicament. Guess we'll have to deal for now."

Chrom took the nearest exit out of the building. The crowds were beginning to tucker out, and the sun was setting. He turned over to find Waluigi glaring at him behind the side of the building, Chrom shrugged, trying to pay the man in purple no mind as he began his trek back home. As he walked away, Waluigi ran behind him and attempted to tackle him. However, Chrom's muscular build was a little too much for Waluigi, causing him to fall flat on his face behind Chrom.

Waluigi picked his head up and caught his breath, speaking maniacally, "I just have to know. Did you get in? What's the secret?"

Chrom turned over to Waluigi, who looked rather pathetic on the ground. Waluigi was panting while he stared up at the swordsman, Chrom rolled his eyes and sighed, "Yeah I got in. It was pretty strange. There were way less judges, and they just let me through. I don't know the secret, but I'm satisfied with the outcome."

Waluigi's mouth opened wide as Chrom walked away. Waluigi picked himself up off the ground and sighed, "Someday I'll get my shot." Waluigi moved slowly, looking back at the crowd with a twinge of despair, knowing that they still had their chance to prove themselves.


	13. The King Has Arrived

**A/N:** Thanks for your patience, guys! Meant to work on this earlier, but life has been a little busy right now and sometimes it's been hard to motivate myself to write this. However, I'm ready to share this with you guys and I hope you enjoy. We're getting closer and closer to the game's release, and I'd love to hear what you're looking forward to most (besides finding out the full roster.) I'm personally looking forward to hearing more about the single player/story mode, as well as trying out the Smashdown mode with some of my friends.

Anyway, here's the chapter! Enjoy!

* * *

 **Chapter 12 – The King Has Arrived**

The judges were now reunited, and it's almost like nothing changed. With the exception being that there was still no tables or chairs, and all five of the judges were sitting on the musty floor. Fox sighed, "We really gotta do something about this, guys. I'm not crazy about sitting on this floor."

Samus scoffed and turned toward Fox, "We know. We get it. Maybe _you_ should go do something about it since you're so vocal about this."

Fox didn't respond and directed his eyes toward the notebook in his lap. His notes were a mess; complete scribbles of names and some stuff that they can do. He directed his eyes back up toward the stage to see, noticing a large, crocodile-like figure on the stage. He gasped and looked over to his fellow judges, all of whom were not actually looking at the stage to see this giant figure stomping onto the center stage.

"How long have you been up there?" Fox gasped as the crocodile with a golden crown and red cape stood center stage, a smug look on his face.

"Me?" The crocodile asked, putting his hand on his golden chest. "Not too long, but clearly you peasants were too stupid to not hear me come in."

The rest of the judges looked upstage to see the crocodile speaking to Fox. Samus sighed, "Not stupid. We just do not care."

"Yeah," Pit declared, "We're not stupid! We're just lazy."

The crocodile rolled his eyes, "Whatever, I'm King K. Rool. Bow down before me. You're looking at the King of the Kremlings, the leader of the Kremling Krew."

"As a princess, I don't bow down to anyone. I'm definitely not going to bow down to someone who's not even wearing clothes," Peach gagged as she stared at King K. Rool's body. "Do you have a shirt or something that you can put on, your body is...distracting, and not in a good way."

"No, and I'm taking that as a compliment, Princess Peach. Do you not remember me? We used to play baseball together."

Little Mac turned his head over to Peach and lifted an eyebrow, "You guys played baseball together? Peach actually played _baseball_?"

Peach squinted, trying to think back to her _Mario Slugger_ days. "Ah, yes, I vaguely remember you." She turned over to Little Mac and scoffed, "Also, I'm actually quite athletic. I've played a ton of different sports. I'm a little surprised that you didn't know that, Little Mac."

Little Mac shrugged, "Personally, I don't really care or pay attention to what you do, so it was just a surprise to me."

"Well," Peach began, not paying any mind to Little Mac. "Mr. K. Rool, what have you been up to since _Super Mario Sluggers_? Any big titles you've been in?"

K. Rool brushed his right foot against the hard stage and hesitated to say anything, "Well, no. I've just been enjoying some time off. You know, ruling my kingdom, reading some books."

Fox started to chuckle, "So you're a washed-up video game character, aren't you? Why should we even consider adding a washed-up fighter to the roster?"

"Um, I don't mean to be _that guy_ ," Peach began, "But all of you are washed up as well. There hasn't been a recent _Star Fox_ as far as I know. Same goes with _Kid Icarus_ and _Punch-Out_. Samus gets a pass, pretty sure _Metroid_ is still pretty relevant."

"Okay, well it's not a competition," Fox rolled his eyes.

"I mean, I don't mean to brag but..." Peach began.

"I know what you're about to say, and you're definitely bragging," Fox interrupted.

"But I am the most relevant and famous panelist here. Everyone knows Mario, and by extension, everyone knows me as well," Peach declared.

"...And everyone knows that you're dating Mario," Samus teased.

Peach grumbled, but chose to verbally ignore Samus's joke, "Point is, we include irrelevant fighters into _Smash_ all the time. Why are we judging this...creepy crocodile...for not being in a game since a decade ago when we have the Ice Climbers, who were literally only in three games, two of which were _Smash Brothers_ games?"

"Speaking of irrelevant fighters," Pit interrupted. "Do you guys think Geno is going to audition? I kind of hope he does."

"Let's stay on topic here, Pit. Do you think that would be possible?" Fox glared. Pit looked back down at his notebook as if to signify that he was just a little embarrassed about Fox's comment.

"Okay, you know what? I hate to say it, but Peach is correct." Samus sighed, "King K. Rool, please tell us more about yourself, why don't you?"

"Well," King K. Rool smiled and stood tall, "You could call me Donkey Kong's Bowser, but I'm obviously way better. I'm super strong and powerful, and will be the best villain that your roster has ever had."

Fox gave K. Rool a fake smile, "Well, we will definitely see about that. Feel free to show us what you've got."

King K. Rool looked around the stage, "So...um, who do I get to fight? I get to fight someone right?"

Peach let out a slight gasp, "Oh my gosh, I almost forgot. Luigi isn't here anymore. He kind of blasted off, so we need to...find a replacement, don't we?"

"Well, since you brought it up, maybe you should be our new Luigi?" Samus smirked.

"Nope. Absolutely not. We have plenty of other people who can do it instead." Peach crossed her arms and slid back from the other judges.

Wii Fit Trainer slowly, and slightly awkwardly, walked onto the stage and waved. "I just overheard you all mention that you need someone to be a punching bag like Luigi was. I can be that punching bag! After all, I am a trainer." The Wii Fit Trainer smiled and blinked, standing tall with her arms behind her back.

Fox joined his hands together, "Well, that problem's just been solved. King K. Rool, please just show us your moves already."

King K. Rool took out a cannon (also known as his blunderbuss) and pointed it right at the fitness instructor, who was facing him toward the side of the stage. His crown inexplicably turned into a pirate hat as the cannonball was spit out of the blunderbuss, heading toward Wii Fit Trainer. She dodged the attack, but as she got closer, she was sucked into the cannon. The Kremling turned around and shot her out, causing her to fall to the ground.

Wii Fit Trainer got up from the ground and starting to give a deep breath, right before jumping up in the air and kicking King K. Rool in the face. K. Rool slid back. The two stood still, glaring at each other before the King threw his crown at the trainer, as it smacked her across the face, it ricocheted back toward him. He grabbed the crown and put it back on his head.

Wii Fit Trainer started dashing to K. Rool, but as she began to attempt her attack, the king puffed up his stomach, pushing Wii Fit Trainer back toward the edge of the stage. King K. Rool jumped up into the air and activated his helicopter backpack (which again, showed up out of nowhere). This allowed him to gain more air. As he started to fall to the ground, he landed right onto Wii Fit Trainer, causing her to fly off the stage, careening toward the judges. The five judges ducked as Wii Fit Trainer fell on her butt toward the end of the auditorium. She smiled, "Wow. Well done. I really worked up a sweat."

"Alright, well we've seen quite a bit here, haven't we?" Fox asked. "Just a question, King K. Rool, what ideas do you have for your final smash?"

King K. Rool returned to center stage and smirked, "I have a Blast-O-Matic cannon that I haven't used in a couple of decades, and I'm going to attack anyone who gets in my way."

"Alright, cool, we'll make sure to perfect that if we let you in," Fox began. He jotted down the words 'Blast-O-Matic' into his notebook before turning his head over to the others. "So? Any opinions here?"

"I'm not gonna lie," Samus began with a sigh, "You kind of suck, as a person, or crocodile, or whatever you are. However, your moves not only are creative but also showcase your pretty awful personality. No offense."

"None taken," King K. Rool smiled.

Peach cleared her throat, "Yeah, that stomach attack kind of grossed me out a bit, I'm not going to lie. But, we don't really get a lot of villains that come here to audition and you really delivered. I think people will enjoy watching you on the battlefield."

Pit gleamed, "I know I will. You're so cool!" The angel paused, before clarifying, "I mean, not like, ethically, but like as a fighter, that stuff was really cool to watch! I liked that cannon thing, and I think we also need more heavyweight fighters in _Smash Bros._ "

"Alright, great insight, I guess," Fox stated. "Little Mac? What do you think?"

Little Mac shrugged, "I don't know what else I can that hasn't already been said. Your Final Smash idea seemed pretty cool and was clearly a nice reference to whatever you've done decades ago. I'm not sure what that is, but it sounded like a good idea."

Fox turned his face back toward the King, "Yeah, I'll just echo what others have been saying, this was a pretty solid audition. I feel like we haven't had a lot of auditions recently where we all agreed on something, and this clearly is a first since maybe the very start of this morning? I think people will like seeing another _Donkey Kong_ representative and will be interested in seeing you back in the public eye."

"So does this mean that I'm in?" King K. Rool smiled, clapping his hands together and bending in closer.

"No... not yet, we still have to vote," Fox explained.

"Yeah, calm your tits!" Peach shouted.

King K. Rool blushed as he crossed his arms, covering his chest.

"Alright," Fox announced, "All in favor of including King K. Rool, say I!"

"I!" The entire panel announced in unison.

King K. Rool smiled, "Yes! _Now_ I'm in, right? I can't wait to find Donkey Kong and stick it to him!"

"Yes, you're in now, congratulations. Just go already!" Fox responded, dryly.

King K. Rool clapped as he walked off the stage with a confident swagger. Samus and Peach made a gagging sound as he disappeared from the audition room. Fox rolled his eyes, "I can't believe we agreed to let him in."

"Well, we have to be fair. We can't just not let someone in because we hate them, right?" Pit asked, sweetly.

"Well, we didn't let Waluigi in because we hate him, didn't we?" Little Mac asked, pouting his lips.

"No," Samus began. "We didn't let Waluigi in because he was unprepared for his audition. Not _just_ because we hate him."

Fox organized his papers and checked the time, "Alright, it looks like we have time for one more audition and then we're done with day two! Then we can all go to sleep!"

"Wow! Today went by pretty quick," Samus said, "I can't believe we've made it to the end of the day already."

Peach scoffed, "Are you kidding me? Today felt like forever. It feels like it's been almost three months if you asked me."

"Yeah," Little Mac retorted. "It feels like literally ages ago since Simon and Richter auditioned. Maybe it's because you and Fox were gone for like, half the day?"

"Just think guys, by Friday, we're going to have our full roster, and then we'll be able to start promoting the newest iteration of _Smash Brothers_!" Fox stated with excitement in his voice.

"A roster that someone, somewhere will surely complain about, I'm sure," Peach complained.

Fox responded with a smile, "Well...you can't please everyone, now can you, Peach?"

* * *

As King K. Rool was on his way out the building, the lobby much emptier than he remembered it being. He noticed Donkey Kong, waiting by the door, looking out the window. King K. Rool decided to sneak up behind him, and shout.

Donkey Kong jumped as he turned over toward the Kremling. He began to angrily glare at King K. Rool.

King K. Rool smiled menacingly, "I'll see you on the battlefield this December. You better be prepared."

Donkey Kong's eyes widened and his jaw fell to the floor as the Kremling walked out of the building, blurting out an evil laugh while Donkey Kong gibbered angrily. It was going to be the return of an ugly rivalry.


	14. A Secretary Auditions, A Panel Divided

**A/N:** Happy October, and thanks again for all of your reviews and support! This was a pretty fun chapter for me to write, mainly since I've grown up playing _Animal Crossing_ and am always hyped to see some extra representation from the series in _Smash Bros._ I do know, however, that there were many who weren't as excited or interested so I tried to incorporate that into this chapter as well. I hope you guys enjoy!

I'm once again all caught up on all of the newcomers now. However, expect some joke characters to come soon! There are rumors that a new character will be revealed soon, so here's hoping that I'll be able to write that chapter while the reveal is still hot!

* * *

 **Chapter 13 – A Secretary Auditions, A Panel Divided**

At the end of day two, the crowds were now emptying out. Outside of the audition room, the building was becoming a ghost town, with many realizing that they were not going to be meeting with the judges today.

All except for one potential fighter in general, who was standing outside of the audition room with a close friend of hers. The character in question was a golden shih tzu wearing a green gingham vest and dark skirt. She had a giant smile on her face and had a couple of forms rolled up in her hands. "I'm so nervous. I hope they like me!"

Her friend, a short, plump tanuki, stood by her side with his hands behind his back. His eyes shut and lifted his head, "It's alright to be nervous, Isabelle. Use that energy to blow the judges away, they're going to love you, yes yes!"

Isabelle smiled and hugged the tanuki, "Thanks for your kind words, Mr. Nook! I hope you're right."

Tom Nook chuckled, "I know I'm right, Isabelle."

Wii Fit Trainer walked over to the two animals nervously waiting around. She smiled and looked around the building, "Well, it looks as though you two are left. So, you can follow me!"

"Oh," Tom Nook began, "I'm here to support Isabelle. Should I wait out here or can I go backstage?"

"Wow! I can't believe you waited all day just to watch your friend audition!"

"Yeah, I can't believe it either," the tanuki sighed. "So, do I stay right here?"

The trainer, just realizing that she didn't answer the question, put her hand on her forehead and laughed slightly, "I'm sorry, I can't believe I forgot to answer your question! You can come with us."

* * *

"This day has been taking forever! I can't wait to get this audition done and over with!" Peach screamed as cupped her face with her hands. "I just want to go to bed!"

The other judges paid little mind to Peach, and instead were all mostly spaced out, completely unaware of their surroundings.

That was until a little shih tzu walked onto the stage. The sound of the jingling bells on the top of her head helped bring everyone back to their senses. "Good evening, judges! Super happy to be here with you all!"

Fox shook his head quickly to help wake himself up, "Hey there! You're our last audition for the day. How are you feeling?"

Isabelle gleamed, and put her hands together, still clenching onto her forms, "I'm doing fantastic! I'm just a little nervous, that's all! I hope to not let you down!" Isabelle leaned toward the stage, "By the way, here are all of those forms you asked me to fill out. I wasn't sure if you needed my resume or anything, but it's there for you to view!"

Samus sighed as she got off the floor to take the forms out of Isabelle's hands. Isabelle watched the judges look through all of the papers, now scattered on the floor, "Oh my! Do you not have any tables or chairs?"

Samus rolled her eyes, "Nope, one of my mortal enemies came and destroyed everything in this auditorium. This place truly is falling apart."

Isabelle reached for her pockets, "What a coincidence! I have a table and a bunch of chairs right in my pocket! I was going to sell them to Reese and Cyrus when I got back home, but I think you guys need this more than me!"

Isabelle reached out with what looked like six leaves. She threw them onto the ground. Out of fear, the judges all scooted away from the stage, out of fear that they would be fit by falling furniture. The leaves materialized into a lovely pink table and five pink lovely chairs, each with a giant red heart for the back support.

Fox scratched his head, "You just happened to have five chairs and a table on you this entire time?"

Samus raised her eyebrow, "And this _all_ fit in your pocket?"

"This furniture seems kind of gaudy, doesn't it?" Pit asked, taking a seat in on of the chairs.

Little Mac moved the table toward the panel of judges. He picked up his chair and took a seat, "I think it's beautiful," he said in a low voice.

The other judges looked over at him with looks of surprise and confusion. Little Mac shrugged, "What? I like the color pink, get off my nuts!"

Isabelle giggled, "Yeah, my house was themed after Valentine's Day, but now I'm in full spring cleaning mode. Whenever I'm not working, I'm redecorating my house!"

"Valentine's Day?" Samus shouted, taking a seat behind the table, "Valentine's Day was ages ago, what took you so long to get rid of this hideous furniture?"

Isabelle started to get slightly nervous and began to sweat, "Well, it's spring cleaning season, but I've been so busy at work that I haven't had the time to get it all done in a timely manner."

"I mean," Peach began, in a calm manner, "It's only April, Samus. Why are you getting so worked up about this?"

"Wait, it's only April?" Pit responded, leaning in toward Peach. "It feels like it's October to me."

Peach rolled her eyes and turned away from Pit, "Well, I don't know what world you live in. If we were just deciding who was going to be on the roster in October, we'd be absolutely screwed."

Pit let out a sigh of relief, "I guess you're right."

Fox squinted at Pit and Peach, "Are you guys done? Because we have an audition to get through right now."

Pit and Peach smiled and nodded in unison. Fox looked down at Isabelle's resume before looking back up at her. "Wow, so there's a lot to unpack here from this resume alone, which by the way, was actually completely unnecessary. First off, when do you sleep?"

Isabelle smiled, "Every so often at work when things calm down."

"You're from _Animal Crossing_ , right?" Samus interrupted. "How much work could you _possibly_ have?"

"I never know if a villager is going to come in and ask for help. I have to be prepared for anything!" Isabelle declared, putting her hands on her hips.

"Yet, you have time to come to this audition and also...be a part of _Mario Kart_ as well?" Fox asked looking down at the resume. "Also, I'm sorry, I completely forgot that you used to be an assist trophy as well. Seriously how do you have time to do all of this?"

"Honestly," Isabelle shrugged, "I don't know, I just want to do everything, I guess!"

Samus grabbed the resume from Fox's hands, and glanced at it, "It also says here that you have experience in social media? How is that going to help you in the battlefield?"

Isabelle chuckled, "Yeah, I run _Animal Crossing's_ Twitter account, and I love every minute of it! I don't think it's going to help me here necessarily, but I just love love _love_ connecting with my fans!"

"Alright, well, I think we've gotten to know quite a lot about you," Fox said as he grabbed the resume back from Samus. "Why don't you show us what you've got!"

Wii Fit Trainer walked onto the stage and began to stretch in preparation of the fight she was about to have with Isabelle. Isabelle faced Wii Fit Trainer, in a matter of seconds she ran toward the fitness instructor. Wii Fit Trainer charged a sun salutation, headed right toward Isabelle. Isabelle grabbed the projectile and put it in her pocket. She then took the sun salutation out of her pocket and sent it back toward Wii Fit Trainer, who flew back.

Isabelle wasn't done though as she reached to grab her fishing rod. The fishing rod hooked onto Wii Fit Trainer, which sent the trainer flying back toward Isabelle. The secretary hit Wii Fit Trainer with a red toy hammer. When Wii Fit Trainer tried to get a hit on Isabelle, a conjured up a flying swing, lifted into the air with a couple of red bunny shaped balloons. Isabelle was now flying above the stage. When the balloons popper, Isabelle crossed her legs and put her hands near her skirt.

Isabelle ran away from Wii Fit Trainer and (somehow) planted a seed into the ground. As the trainer ran toward her, a gyroid detonated upward and pushed Wii Fit Trainer back. The gyroid slammed right through the ceiling, causing some debris and ceiling tiles to fall right onto Wii Fit Trainer.

"Oops. I'm sorry about that. I didn't know that would happen!" Isabelle giggled, "I can clean it up, though!"

Fox put his hand up as if to tell Isabelle to stop. "That won't be necessary, at all. I believe we've seen enough. We just need to hear your ideas on your Final Smash and then we can begin the deliberation."

Isabelle perked up, "Well when I get the Smash Ball, my good friend Tom Nook and his Nooklings, Timmy and Tommy, build the town hall on any nearby opponents. It's kind of like Villager's move."

Samus let out a long sigh, "See, this is my problem right here. You're too similar to Villager to be a unique fighter in my opinion."

"Yeah, I agree," Pit quickly chimed in. "You should be Villager's echo fighter at best. I think you just seem to be too much of a pacifist to be a fighter. Maybe you could stick around as an assist trophy?"

"I'm sorry, what's an echo fighter?" Isabelle asked. She smiled and put her hands behind her back.

Fox explained, "So, an echo fighter is essentially just a fancy way of calling a character who has the same moveset as another character. For example, Dark Pit is an echo of Pit because they have the same moveset, but are two different people."

"But I don't have the same moveset as Villager. I have a bunch of my own moves as well," Isabelle responded, shyly. She brushed her foot on the floor bashfully.

"Yeah, I agree with Isabelle," Peach began. "She may have some similarities to Villager, but she has a lot of her own moves. Plus, all of the echo fighters have a similar build to the character they're based on. I don't know why you guys think she shouldn't be a unique fighter on our roster, she's what _Smash Brothers_ is all about. She's someone nobody would expect to be fighting in the arena, but here she is. That's why I think Isabelle is so great."

"Yeah, it's just," Pit began, "I think she'd be taking a slot of a more deserving character, don't you think so?"

Fox interrupted, "Uh...Pit, to clarify, we don't have a certain amount of slots in _Smash Brothers_ , we just let in the fighters that actually impress us enough. Frankly, Isabelle, you've impressed me quite a bit. I think people will love seeing an unexpected character like you in the fight. I love seeing fighters who don't have a fighting background come up here and show us what they've got. Wii Fit Trainer did that a few years back, and I love watching her fight."

"But, like, come on!" Pit argued, "We could have someone like Geno too, and people would be more excited for him!"

"I'm sorry who is Geno?" Peach asked. "You keep throwing that name around and I've literally never heard of him until now."

"Weren't you in a game with him, though?" Pit asked. "Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars ring any bells?"

Peach took a moment to think, "Um...I guess. But, I think more people would actually be excited for Isabelle than you think. She was invited to come race with us in _Mario Kart_ for a reason, people love her. If Geno comes and auditions, we can seriously consider him as well. I don't know why you're so adamant on having Geno over Isabelle right now."

Samus interjected, "Listen, I don't care about Geno, but I also think that there's nothing about Isabelle that really stands out to me. We have a ton of fighters in _Ultimate_ as it is. I just think that if we include fighters from here on out, they've got to have something that no other fighter has. I don't know if Isabelle has that."

"If I can join in on this conversation," Little Mac began.

"Oh, Little Mac, didn't notice you there!" Fox interrupted. "The floor is yours."

"As a former assist trophy back in the _Brawl_ days, you know, before your time, I am all for seeing assist trophies get promoted into a fighter. I think being an assist trophy is a great stepping stone into becoming a full-fledged fighter, and while you may have some similarities to Villager, I think your differences help prove that you would be an excellent addition to our roster," Little Mac explained.

"Wow," Peach cleared her throat, "Well said. You should speak more often Little Mac, you have a lot of great thoughts going on in your head."

"That's definitely debatable," Samus muttered.

"Alright, well it seems like we're pretty split on this decision. Should we vote?" Fox asked. The rest of the panel solidly nodded. Isabelle stood center stage, completely still, but with a giant and nervous smile on her face.

"All in favor of including Isabelle in _Smash Ultimate's_ roster, say I," Fox began.

"I!" Fox, Peach, and Little Mac shouted in unison, all three with their hands raised. Isabelle silently screamed, prepared to jump for joy.

"And all oppose?" Fox asked.

"I!" Pit and Samus announced with little vigor in their voices. Their hands raised haphazardly.

Fox turned his head back to Isabelle and smiled, "Well, even despite the divide, it looks like you're in, Isabelle! Congratulations!"

Isabelle jumped and down more excitedly, "Oh my gosh! I'm so happy and excited! I can't believe I got in! Thank you so much! You definitely won't regret this."

Tom Nook rushed onto the stage to give Isabelle a hug, "Congrats, kiddo! I knew you would make it in. Now let's go home, please. I spent all of this time waiting for this to happen, I just want to go home and go to bed."

Isabelle giggled, "Oh Nook, you never fail to make me laugh."

The two walked out of the auditorium together. The judges began to get out of their seats and walk toward the exit. Pit sighed, "I guess my concerns fell on some deaf ears."

Peach rolled her eyes, "Cry me a river. Build a bridge. Get over it!"

"Yeah, Pit. No idea why you're so butthurt about this," Samus said, as she walked out of the auditorium.

* * *

Villager sat at the front desk with Jigglypuff and Kirby while playing a game of cards with the two puffballs. He turned his head slightly to find Isabelle and Tom Nook walking out of the building. Isabelle looked up at Villager, who began to look slightly nervous.

Isabelle skipped over to the desk with a huge smile on her face, "Hey Mr. Mayor! Can you believe it! I'm in _Smash Ultimate_ too! This is going to be such an exciting experience. Now it's not my responsibility if I'm behind on work, either!"

"Hey kid," Tom Nook shouted as he was halfway out the door, "Last time I checked you still need to pay off that home loan of yours. You better get that to me soon if you really want that basement."

Isabelle smiled and waved as she followed Tom Nook out the door. Villager looked at Kirby and Jigglypuff uncomfortably, with fear in his eyes. He was now forced to prepare for his secretary to wreak havoc on him for leaving her to tend to the town during the last iteration of _Smash Bros._


	15. Ette Cetera

**A/N:** Wow, it's definitely been quite a while, hasn't it? I wish a had a really great excuse why I haven't posted in a couple of weeks, and honestly, it's just pure laziness. Seeing the potential leaks today lit a fire under my ass to do some writing. If those leaks are true, I feel like we'd have a pretty solid roster for _Ultimate._ Regardless, I'd be pretty satisfied with whoever they end up including, I'm just excited to finally play the game!

Anyway, here is the newest chapter. I had a couple of small ideas so I figured I would just do another quick lightning round chapter. I'm pretty sure that the Bowsette meme has kind of run its course, so I'm definitely late to the party, but I hope you enjoy either way.

* * *

 **Chapter 14 – Ette Cetera**

Samus was the last to arrive for day three of the Smash Ultimate auditions. She landed on her seat between Fox and Peach and began to slouch, "I can already tell today is going to suck."

Spoiler alert: She was right.

* * *

A small, pink toad with pigtails walked onto the stage the first thing in the morning, with a loud, chipper voice, "Hi there, it's me! Toadette! I'm so glad to be the first person to audition for _Smash Brothers_ today."

"Wow, it's so nice to see you Toadette," Peach smiled. "I can't wait to see what one of my loyal subjects is going to share with us. I'd love to see more _Mario_ representation."

" _More Mario representation?_ " Little Mac shouted, "We have so many _Mario_ characters on the roster already. Why would we need another one? I'm the only _Street Fighter_ representation! Maybe we need more of that."

Fox quickly interjected, "You know what? Let's not fight today. Let's see what Toadette has to offer before we start arguing."

Toadette jumped for joy and took a Super Crown out of her pocket. As she used the crown, she turned into a striking image of Peach. Her long blonde hair was in pigtails, she blinked her grey eyes, and had a huge pink bow on her light pink dress. "It's me, Peachette!"

"Oh, I don't need to see anything else here," Samus declared, jumping up from her seat. "It's an absolute no from me. We already have one Peach, we definitely don't need another!"

Peach jumped out of her seat as well and turned toward Samus, "But we haven't given her a chance! She could show us more!"

"If it helps, it's a no from me as well!" Fox shrugged.

"Same here, I'm not feeling this," Little Mac added.

"Sorry Peach, it's nothing personal, it's just that this seems like a terrible addition," Pit muttered, preparing for what Peach was about to say.

"Well, you know what I have to say about that?" Peach said, her voice beginning to rise, "You're absolutely right. This would be a really dumb addition to _Ultimate_. Let's not add Toadette-er, uh, Peachette?"

Peachette sighed as she walked off of the stage. Bowser quickly walked on the stage after Peachette left.

"You're already in the game, Bowser, go home!" Fox sighed.

"Yeah, I know," Bowser smirked, "But what if my _new_ Final Smash turned me into Bowsette?"

"I'm sorry, what?" Peach stuttered, pushing her seat a little farther from the table.

Bowser then took out the same pink and gold Super Crown that Toadette had in her arsenal. Bowser then transformed into a beautiful, sexy princess and everyone's jaw hit the floor.

Just kidding, 'Bowsette' grew long red hair and gained a large black dress that didn't actually fit him quite properly, making him look awkward and lumpy. All five of the judges began to laugh, gasping for air at how ridiculous Bowsette looked.

Bowsette began to sweat nervously, and scratch the back of her hair. "You know, I thought I was going to look really hot, and you would all fall in love with me or something. Now I just feel like I've embarrassed."

As Bowsette walked off the stage, the judges couldn't stop laughing.

"So, is it possible to remove Bowser off of the roster? That was so bad!" Peach asked, taking a breath.

Fox smiled as his gregarious roar turned into a mere chuckle, "I mean, that would kind of defeat the whole purpose of _Ultimate's_ 'Everyone Is Here' theme. So, unfortunately, it's just not going to happen. But we'll consider it in the future."

* * *

The day was now just getting started. However, things were taking a bit of a turn for the worse after Toadette's audition.

Wii Fit Trainer walked onto the stage with a Pokémon Trainer right behind her. The trainer smiled and pursed her lips while throwing the Pokéball up and down in her hand.

"Thanks, Wii Fit Trainer," Fox stated as she was on her way off the stage.

The trainer turned around and smiled, her arms on her hips, "Actually, Fox, I've been thinking about rebranding myself. From now on, you can call me _Miss_ Fit. I figured it sounded cooler and more professional."

Fox hesitated, "I'm...not going to call you that."

Wii Fit, er, _Miss_ Fit shrugged as she walked off, "Well, I'm sure it'll catch on eventually."

Fox rolled his eyes before giving a warm, yet very fake smile to the trainer, "Hello, ma'am."

The trainer smiled back, "Hi Fox! My name is M-"

"Yeah, we actually don't care about you, or your name," Samus cleared her throat. "We only have so much time in the day, what's your Pokémon?"

The trainer sighed as she revealed a muscular bipedal feline, who grunted as it revealed it's sharp claws. It's red and black fur was fluffy and covered most of its body.

"Is that fire on its crotch?" Pit asked, pointing to the fire belt underneath the feline's jacked black torso. The trainer shook her head no.

The Pokémon trainer tried to use as little words as possible, out of fear that the judges didn't want to hear her say anything, "Incineroar, everybody!"

The judges looked at each other, slightly confused, were they supposed to clap? The trainer was using jazz hands to put more attention on the Incineroar, who was just awkwardly standing center stage.

"Can it do tricks? Does it have moves?" Fox asked.

"Well, uh-" The trainer began.

"We don't want to hear you speak, actually," Samus interjected. "Does it understand that we want it to show its moves?"

Peach, without giving the trainer a chance to talk, began to attempt to speak to the Incineroar, while using grand hand gestures in hopes that it might understand. "Hi there! Do _you..."_ she began, pointing directly at the Incineroar. "Have any moves," she continued, throwing slow punches in the air. She finished by pointing at herself and the rest of the judges. "To show us?"

The Incineroar turned to its trainer and began by moving its body around violently. A dark, crimson aura began to glow around the Pokémon as it hit the trainer, who was pushed back. The Incineroar walked over to the trainer and used his Fire Fang move, bit the trainer with flame-cloaked fangs.

The trainer shouted, "Mercy!" In hopes that the Incineroar would stop, which thankfully, it did.

The judges took a brief moment to organize their thoughts until Samus began to speak up, "You know, I know a lot of people want a new Pokémon representative. It's a huge franchise, I get it. It's just that we have so many already, and Incineroar just isn't bringing anything that Charizard can't already do better. Sorry."

Fox nodded, "I'm going to agree with Samus. We have high standards for Pokémon, so I just am not feeling this."

"Wait," The trainer shouted, "You have high standards you say? Well, then, why is Pichu in _Smash Brothers_? He sucks!"

Peach scoffed, "You have the audacity to challenge our decision? Who do you think you are?"

"I'm Muriel the Pokémon Trainer, and if Pichu can get into _Smash_ , then I feel like my Incineroar can too! He can beat Pichu in his sleep."

"Well...Muriel," Peach began, "We're sorry you can't get what you want. It's such a shame, I don't get what I want either."

"And that is?" Muriel scoffed.

Peach smiled and in the sweetest tone stated, "I want you to get the fuck out of this audition, that's what I want."

Muriel laughed, "You want to fight?"

Before Peach could respond, Wii Fit Trainer came up on stage and dragged Muriel off. Muriel dropped her Pokéball, causing it to open up and send Incineroar back inside. Muriel tried to reach for the Pokéball with no success. It was now resting on the floor for nobody to pick up. The Pokémon Trainer tried to shout expletives at the judges with no avail.

The room was now silent.

"Wow, Peach! I didn't know you had that in you," Samus said.

Peach giggled, "I didn't either."

* * *

Later that day, a Mii walked onto the stage wearing a long, black cape, a tuxedo with a red bowtie and matching cumberbund, and a giant top hat.

"Oh boy, another Mii," Fox muttered under his breath, before raising his voice to introduce the panel. "Hello there, welcome to the auditions for _Smash Ultimate_. What's your name?"

The Mii's green eyes blinked, "My name is Mark, but you can call me the _Mii_ gician. Get it?" Miigician announced, chuckling at his own joke.

Samus crossed her arms, "You know what? For that terrible pun alone, it's a no from me. I don't even need to see what you have to offer it's going to be terrible."

The other four judges agreed in unison. The Miigician sighed as he walked off the stage with his head down.

"Wow, he really is a magician. One second he was here, and by the next he disappeared," Pit said with a laugh.

Little Mac turned his head and sighed, "Pit, you're...just not funny. Stop trying to get the last word."

Pit zipped his lips and began to frown as he squirmed uncomfortably in his seat.

* * *

Day three of the auditions were now about to come to an end, and the judges were beginning to feel apathetic. After wasting an entire day watching bad audition after bad audition, the judges came to the realization that there were no successful characters. Wii Fit Trainer walked back on the stage with one last fighter for the day, a blocky man with short, dark hair, small blue eyes, a blue t-shirt and jeans. His arms were giant stubs that the man slowly waved toward the judges. "Hi, I'm Minecraft Steve, but just call me Steve."

Fox's eyes widened, "You're seriously auditioning?"

Steve nodded, "Yeah, man! _Minecraft_ is huge! Everyone knows about it, so I figured I had a shot too."

Fox shrugged, "I guess I can't argue with that logic. I'm too tired to argue it. Just show us something so we can go home."

The other judges sat next to Fox, saying nothing. Samus was trying her best to stay awake, Peach was slouching in her seat, Pit was resting his head on the table, and Little Mac sat completely still, looking almost lifeless. They all acknowledged Steve's existence, but did not say any words.

Steve stood across from the Wii Fit Trainer and began to rush toward her with a pickaxe in hand. He began hitting the trainer in the abdomen with his pickaxe. Wii Fit Trainer then threw a Sun Salutation his way, causing him to get pushed farther away from the yoga instructor. He took out his bow and arrows and began shooting them toward Wii Fit Trainer, but she dodged.

Steve's plan of attack was to now attack Wii Fit Trainer with his sword, but as he ran toward his opponent, Fox shouted, "We've seen enough."

Steve stopped in his tracks and complied, before walking back to center stage.

Fox sighed, "I just feel like your moves are kind of boring. Nothing really stands out about you, other than your blocky exterior. I just don't see you as a fighter, I'm afraid."

Peach fell out of her seat and remained on the floor, "Ugh, I'm too tired to come up with my own original thoughts, but Fox is right..."

Pit, on the other hand, tried to be more positive, "I think you're cool! You have quite an arsenal of tools at your disposal, so I'm going to argue that while you would be an odd choice for Minecraft, you would be a great and welcome addition in my eyes."

"All in favor say I," Fox spoke up, his voice highlighting his exhaustion.

"I!" Pit announced, being the only voice of support for Steve.

"Well, Steve, I'm afraid your chance of becoming a fighter in _Smash_ is not going to be realized today. Maybe next time," Fox shrugged.

Steve smiled, "Well, thanks for the opportunity. What a bummer."

As Steve walked off the stage, Wii Fit Trainer walked toward center stage. "Well, that's the end of day three. Shame it was such a dud."

"Nah, it's fine," Fox began. "It's actually quite normal for those to happen. It's worth it in the end."

There was a moment of silence as Wii Fit Trainer nodded, still standing still on the stage. Fox smiled, "Listen, I just want to thank you for all of your help, it's been very appreciated, _Miss_ Fit."

Wii Fit Trainer cringed slightly, "Yeah, you're right, that really won't catch on. Let's stick with Wii Fit Trainer."

Fox sighed as he walked out of the room, with all of the judges following his lead. The lights in the auditorium were now off, leaving the room pitch black and empty.

Day three was a dud, but there was always hope that the remaining two days would pick up again.

* * *

Muriel, the Pokémon trainer, sat on the bed of her motel room, letting out a sinister laugh. "You may have separated me from my Level 100 Incineroar, but you will pay for this _Smash Brothers_."

As Muriel said this to herself, she stared at a picture of Fox, Samus, Peach, Little Mac, and Pit, drawing X's all over each of their faces. "I'm going to ruin the rest of the auditions, and there's no way anyone can stop me!"

Muriel let out an evil laugh before a neighbor slammed on the walls of her motel room, "Shut up, lady! It's three in the morning! I'm trying to fucking sleep!"

"Sorry!" Muriel shouted, as she began letting out a much softer evil laugh. The trainer was out for a sweet dish of revenge.


	16. Haunting and Entering

**A/N:** I initially was going to wait until there was an official announcement before uploading the next chapter. However, I came up with this audition idea a couple of days ago and figured it would be an interesting chapter. While the audition takes a bit of a backseat, this chapter will help set up the story for the next few chapters so I hope you enjoy!

* * *

 **Chapter 15 – Haunting and Entering**

Muriel tried to budge on a locked door in the early morning, donned in a large black sweat jacket with the hood up in hopes that nobody would see her. She sighed, realizing that breaking into a building was definitely not as easy as walking through the front door.

"Damnit, this is going to be harder than I thought," she whispered to herself as she put her hands on her hips.

Her blue eyes looked around the vicinity, nobody was around. She was definitely alone. She tiptoed around the building, looking for a way in without any sign of a break in. She turned on her flashlight while turning one of the corners. She shined her light on the grey brick exterior of the building, thinking about how strange it is that this huge weeklong audition process is hosted in a somewhat small building. As she took a couple steps forward on the dewy grass, she shined her light on a row of wooden planks that seemed to cover a giant hole in the brick wall. She let out a gasp in delight, was this her way into the building?

Her first solution to breaking the boards was to karate chop her way through. However, with no experience and no understanding of karate chops in general, her hand ricocheted off the board, and she gasped in pain. She covered her mouth in hopes that nobody could hear her.

She then looked through her bag to see if she had anything that could break through the wood. She had a couple of useless knickknacks in her bag, including a couple of writing utensils, a notebook, a Grinch costume that she was planning on wearing for Halloween (she plans months in advance), and then it hit her. She's a Pokémon Trainer, _duh!_ She could use one of her Pokémon to break the wall down. She grabbed one of her Pokéballs, "Lycanroc, I choose you!"

The wolf Pokémon came out of the ball and began to howl. Muriel covered its mouth. She then whispered to the canine, "Lycanroc, use Rock Throw on those wood planks!"

The Lycanroc looked at Muriel with a slight look of confusion. His target wasn't another Pokémon, but rather, a wall? Muriel nodded with confidence. The Lycanroc turned back to the wall. He conjured up some rocks, sending them right to the planks. The rocks penetrated the wall, creating an opening for Muriel to make her way into the building.

Muriel stepped through the hole in the wall, now in the slightly cold backstage area that she was in yesterday evening. She went through her bag and took out a small hidden camera as she headed toward the edge of the stage. She mounted the camera to the wall, in an area she figured she could clearly see the fighters who came in to audition. She walked over to center stage and flashed the light on her while she opened an app on her phone to see if the camera was working. The app showed her, from afar, standing on the stage looking at her phone. She smiled, knowing things were going according to plan before she suddenly heard the sounds of footsteps. She froze with fear as she heard a pair of shoes getting louder and louder.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" The voice shouted.

Muriel jumped and moved her flashlight toward the sound of the voice. She found a man wearing a green shirt and dark blue overalls standing before her. He looked prepared to karate chop somebody. Muriel tried to come up with some fake excuse as quickly as possible.

"I-I'm the janitor here. I just finished up everything and am on my way out. My name is M-Mauve. My name is Mauve," Muriel spoke quickly.

Luigi squinted his eyes before putting his hands in his pockets and smiling, "Oh, okay! That makes sense. This place is a huge mess. Nice to meet you Mauve. You're named after the color, Mauve?"

Muriel sighed, "Yeah, but I, like, totally hate my name. I wish my mom named me Muriel or something, haha."

Luigi nodded uncomfortably, "Oh, okay. I thought everyone considered that to be an old lady name or something."

"It is, but I love that name. It's so pretty."

"It sounds a lot like urinal to me," Luigi muttered.

"So, uh..." Muriel began, in an attempt to change the topic, "What are you doing here at like, five in the morning?"

Luigi sighed, "A couple of days ago, this girl auditioned to be an assist trophy I think, and she drew this bullet bill and sent me and my friend Captain Falcon flying. We just found our way back here, so we're ready to get back to work. By the way, did you clean the judge's break room? I don't think anyone has ever bothered cleaning it, y'know?"

Muriel's eyes opened wide, "No, I didn't know that the judge's had their own break room."

Luigi smiled, "It's probably locked anyway, let me unlock it for you. They would really appreciate all of the help. I'd do it, but I'm really tired."

Luigi led Muriel down a dark, secluded hallway that was blocked off during the day. Straight ahead was a door with a white piece of paper saying "JUDGE'S BREAK ROOM" in all caps, written with a black sharpie marker. Luigi took the key out of his pocket and started to slowly unlock the door, "I still can't believe that I haven't lost this thing. So crazy, right?"

As the two walked into the room, the lights automatically turned on, Luigi patted Muriel on the shoulder, "Feel free to leave once you finish cleaning this. If you need me for anything, I'll be in the cafeteria taking a nap."

Luigi walked out, closing the door behind him. Muriel stood in the florescent lit room and had a sinister smile on her face. Muriel stared ahead at a small closet on the other end of the room. She rushed over and opened the door. The brown closet was mostly empty, with the exception of a pair of old, green sneakers. Muriel took a seat in the closet and closed the doors. She was going to have a front row seat to what happens behind closed doors. Muriel let out an evil laugh before breathing in the smell of the old, musty sneakers, "Ugh, it smells like wet dog in here!"

* * *

The judges all congregated in the break room early on a Thursday morning. Fox stood by the front while Peach, Samus, Little Mac and Pit sat together at the circular round table in the center of the room, sighing.

"Guys, I know yesterday was a bust, but we have two more days of this and then we're done with our job," Fox began, pacing back and forth in the room. "I have a couple of announcements before we go out there. First, Luigi and Captain Falcon are back! Luigi, of course, will be our punching bag, per usual, and Captain Falcon is on security duty as well."

Pit raised his hand, "Hey, Fox, I have a question. I found that Incineroar girl's Pokéball from yesterday lying around. Are we going to contact her so she can get her Pokémon back?"

Samus scoffed, "No way, it's on her for leaving her Pokémon behind. Maybe it'll teach her a lesson."

"Well, where is it now, Pit?" Fox asked.

Pit took the Pokéball out of his pocket, "I've been holding onto it. I just kind of feel bad, you know? I'm not a Pokémon trainer, but I feel like losing your Pokémon is like the equivalent of watching your dog die or something?"

Fox grabbed the ball from Pit's hand, "Why don't we have Jigglypuff and Kirby make a lost and found. I assume that this is extremely valuable to her, maybe she'll come back today and pick him up?"

Peach stared at her phone and began to speak up, "Villager has some pretty big pockets. Maybe he can hold onto it?"

Fox sighed, "I don't know. He's been really into collecting furniture lately, he might not have the room in his pockets anymore."

"Then just give it to Jigglypuff and Kirby then," Little Mac declared, "This is not important. We should just get these auditions done and over with."

"Little Mac is right," Samus chimed in, "I actually can't believe that I just said that, by the way."

Fox sighed, "Alright fine, you guys are right. This is not our priority. I just want to make sure we're hyped to take on day four of auditions. Let's get out there."

Fox opened the door for the others, each of whom slowly got out of their seats. Samus looked over at Fox, who was trying to give an enthusiastic smile to each judge. Samus snarled, "I'm not even a little bit hyped for this to be honest."

"I had a feeling," Fox said, dryly.

* * *

The first audition of day four was about to begin. A large, white ghost with a golden crown floated onto the stage. His mouth was wide open to reveal his sharp teeth and his tongue was sticking out as he began to laugh.

Pit squirmed uncomfortably in his seat, "Um...hi, who are you?"

The ghost laughed again, "You fool, my name is King Boo. I am the king of the boos!"

"Oh, really?" Samus asked slowly. "What's your go-to type of booze? Absinthe? Vodka?"

"What?" King Boo asked. "I'm a boo. A ghost from the Mushroom Kingdom. I cause Luigi a lot of pain and suffering."

Samus smiled, "You cause a lot of pain and suffering to Luigi, you say? Well, you've certainly piqued my interest."

Little Mac grunted, "I feel like we've sat through so many fighters from the _Mario_ series. Why should we even consider you. Are you even a major character like Mario or Princess Peach?"

King Boo laughed, "I'm the main villain of _Luigi's Mansion_. Of course I'm a big deal, moron!"

Peach looked over toward Little Mac, "Little Mac does make a point. There are a lot of us on the roster as it is. I'm pretty sure half of the _Mario Kart_ roster is already a part of _Smash Brothers_. Do we really need another representative?"

King Boo snarled, "How dare you question my ability. Of course I should be on the roster! Allow me to demonstrate."

Fox sat back in his seat, "Alright," he began. He picked up his voice, "Luigi, come on out here. There's someone who wants to see you!"

Luigi groaned as he walked on the stage. He looked up to see King Boo staring at him, dead in the eye, and laughing as Luigi began to scream. Luigi ran off of the stage, causing King Boo to laugh even harder at Luigi's expense.

Samus looked over at Fox, "This is ridiculous. We have a ton of fighters to sit through right now, why is Luigi being so difficult?"

Before Fox could answer, Luigi ran back onto the stage with his Poltergust 3000. He pointed the red vacuum at King Boo, who began to gasp and float away as quickly as possible. Luigi turned on the vacuum, starting to suck King Boo up. He tried to float farther from Luigi, but the Poltergust continued catching up, until eventually succeeding in capturing the king.

Fox sighed, "Luigi, seriously? He didn't even have a chance to audition."

Luigi put the poltergust on the ground, "There was no way I was letting _him_ get a chance to make my life even more of a living hell!"

King Boo's spirit began to shuffle around the poltergust, causing the vacuum to jump up and down, "You'll pay for this Luigi! I'll get my revenge!"

Luigi walked off the stage with his poltergust in hand. The sound of the rattling slowly died down in the audition room. Fox sighed, "Well, that was a waste of time..."

"Right?" Peach agreed, "I was actually kind of excited to see him fight."

Fox fiddled around with his pen, "Well, let's bring in the next fighter, I guess?"

"Wait," Little Mac interrupted. He got out of his seat, "I'm actually kind of thirsty. Mind if I quickly get some water before we move on?"

Samus rolled her eyes, "Whatever. Just make it quick."

Little Mac nodded and ran out of the auditorium. He rushed into the break room, swinging the door wide open and heading over to the mostly full water cooler. As he grabbed one of the cups on top of the cooler and began to pull the small, blue lever, he heard what sounded like a fart coming from the other side of the room.

Muriel, who was still hiding in the closet, let out a nervous squeak. She knew that she was definitely not alone. She heard the sound of Little Mac sniffing. The sound of water pouring out of the cooler began to dissipate. She heard his footsteps walk closer and closer to the closet. Her knocked on the door, "Knock knock!"

Muriel let out another nervous squeak, "W-who's there?"

"Little Mac."

At this point, Muriel felt like she had no choice but to keep the joke going, "Little Mac, _who?"_

Little Mac opened the door, causing Muriel to screech. She rolled out of the closet, falling on her face right before the boxer's feet. She got up from the floor and scratched the back of her head, "Ow that really hurt."

Little Mac scowled and crossed his arms, "Are you going to explain why you were hiding in the closet?"

Muriel began to sweat nervously, "Well, um...I..."

The room went silent as Little Mac waited for an explanation. Little Mac tapped his foot quickly, as he was in a hurry to get back to the auditions.

Muriel sighed, "Yesterday you guys took my Incineroar and I just want him back."

Little Mac's scowl turned into a smile, "Oh, that's it? Why were you so nervous about that? I can bring you to the front desk so you can pick up your Pokéball. Then you can go home."

Muriel smiled and followed Little Mac out of the room toward the front of the building. She walked right behind Little Mac and began to quietly giggle. She may be kicked out of the break room, but she still has the hidden camera in the auditorium.


	17. ShoryuKEN

**A/N:** So, I'm sure we all have seen the most recent direct now, and we can all agree that the Incineroar chapter has aged pretty poorly. That was definitely my fault for jumping the gun on that one and believing that there was a chance that the Grinch leak was real without waiting for a confirmation (serves me right for believing something on the Internet of all places, haha.) I did make some adjustments to this whole Muriel/Incineroar plot, and part of me thinks this works a little bit better? Hope you guys enjoy!

* * *

 **Chapter 16 – ShoryuKEN**

Little Mac walked back into the auditorium and quietly took his seat. He felt the other judges glare at him as he got himself situated.

"Man, it took you a _long_ time to get a glass of water," Samus whispered slowly. Little Mac turned his head to see the bounty hunter squinting.

"Seriously, what was the holdup?" Fox asked.

"Well," Little Mac began, "The thing is that I ran into the girl who auditioned with her Incineroar in our break room, so I wanted to go reunite her with her Pokémon."

The four judges eyes began to widen. "I don't trust that girl, something's up there," Samus declared, pounding her fist on the table.

"What was she doing in _our_ break room? It's not like people can just walk in there," Peach responded.

"Listen, I don't know, but I don't think it's a problem. She's gone there's nothing to worry about," Little Mac argued.

Fox scoffed, "Yeah, that's reassuring."

"Look," Little Mac sighed, "Can we just move on. If something does happen, can't we worry about it later?"

"Alright, fine," Fox shrugged, "But stay on your toes."

Samus adjusted her seat and looked straight ahead, shouting, "We're ready for the next fighter!"

A muscular, blonde American man walked onto the stage. The room was silent, and the sound of his bare feet stepping on the floor echoed in the room. The man stood tall, his hands clenched into fists. Fox smiled as he grabbed the pen near him, "Welcome to the audition, man! What's your name and where are you from?"

The man began to speak, "I'm Ken Masters from the _Street Fighter_ series. My good friend and rival Ryu recommended that I audition for this _Super Smash Brothers_ thing."

"Yeah, we've actually heard a lot about you from Ryu, actually. Glad to have you here!" Fox said.

Pit began to fanboy, as per usual, "Ken! I'm a huge fan of your work! Such an honor to be here in the same room as you! Just wanted to put that out there."

Ken clenched his teeth together and nodded, trying to hide his discomfort from Pit, "Well, uh, thanks. I appreciate the compliment."

Pit scratched his head, "So, wait, don't you and Ryu have the same moves? You're, like, Ryu's clone in _Street Fighter_ , right?"

"I mean, I guess? We were both trained by Gouken, so we have the same moves."

"Alright, Pit, stop the lovefest," Fox interjected, "You're clearly making Ken uncomfortable right now."

Peach looked over at Ken and briefly raised her hand, "Yes, I have a question. Are you single?"

Samus looked over at Peach with wide eyes, "Peach, what the fuck? This is not an appropriate question right now!"

Peach sighed and crossed her arms, "It's not like I'm interested, I'm justing asking a question to break the ice, duh!"

Fox facepalmed and grunted, "Ken, you don't have to answer that question. Actually, please just don't answer that question. We're clearly making you a little uncomfortable."

Ken laughed and fidgeted with his hands as he spoke up, "No, no it's no big deal. Uh...no I'm not single, I'm actually married and have a kid."

Peach cooed, "That's so sweet, what's her name? I bet she's very beautiful."

Ken chuckled again and nodded, "Uh, yeah she is. Her name is Eliza."

"Is she here to support you? Maybe give you some words of encouragement?" Peach asked.

"Uh...no, do you think we can just get this over with? I've been waiting a while to do this audition," Ken explained.

Fox smiled and clicked his pen, "No problem, Ken. Whenever you're ready." Fox began to shout, "Luigi! We're waiting for you!"

Luigi trudged on stage with a folding chair in his hand. He placed the chair on the floor and unfolded it, slowly sitting down in the seat. His legs were stretched out and leaned his head back as he sat down. He noticed out of the corner of his eye the judges glaring at him with looks of annoyance. He sat up in his seat and crossed his arms, "I'm about to get my ass kicked, at least let me be comfortable for a little while."

Ken was now turned toward Luigi. Ken moved closer and closer toward Luigi, ready to attack. Luigi did not bother to brace himself, or fight back, he was starting to give up. Ken moved his palms back and cupped them together and then thrusted them forward, shooting out a blue projectile, and shouted the word "Hadoken!"

The projectile flew toward Luigi, causing Luigi and his chair to get pushed back. Ken threw a couple more Hadoken's came Luigi's way, each with a little more power than the last. As Ken was now closing in on the dejected Luigi, he stretched his leg out and began spinning forward. His leg kicking Luigi in the face. Luigi face-planted onto the ground. He slowly got on his hands and knees and eventually got up from the floor. Ken began emanating a black aura, in preparation for what might seem like an attack.

Luigi decided to actually fight and throw a quick punch. Ken was prepared, though, and retaliated with a black-inked kick that cause Luigi was fall to his knees once again. Ken began throwing some punches and kicks Luigi's way. Luigi attempted fighting back by using his Luigi Cyclone. He outstretched his arms and spun around. His attack worked to an extent, as Ken was knocked back slightly. Ken reciprocated with an uppercut, shouting "Shoryuken" as he jumped up into the air. Luigi had the wind knocked out of him, causing him to fall on his side and grunt in pain.

"Impressive, Ken! Well done!" Fox shouted as he began to applaud. The other four lightly applauded out of courtesy, but did not have the same gusto as Fox did. As Fox's claps began to die down, he spoke up once again. "Before we deliberate, Ken, we need to know what your Final Smash will be?"

"Well," Ken began, "I have two. One for short range and one for long range. My first Final Smash would be Shippu Jinraikyaku. It's a move I would use while nearby an opponent and I would be a set of kicks on the opponent. The second one is-"

"Okay, you're boring me with your words so I'll just take your word on the Final Smashes," Samus interrupted. Fox gave Samus a pout, which Samus barely paid any mind. "You're a good fighter, Ken, and a great fit for _Smash Brothers._ The only reason I'm not super enthusiastic like Fox is right now is because you're an echo fighter. We've seen Ryu in action and you have a lot of similarities to him."

Pit nodded in agreement, "What Samus said. You're really cool, and I'm sorry I'm not sounding as enthusiastic because I'm a huge fan, but we know how you'll fight and we know you'll be a good fit."

There was a brief moment of silence as the judges were all waiting for someone to say something. Pit nudged Little Mac hard. Little Mac jumped up in his seat and gasped slightly, "Uh...yeah, what Samus and Pit said. You'll be a formidable opponent. I'm looking forward to taking you on!"

"I bet he'd obliterate you in the arena, Little Mac," Peach joked. "But anyway, great job, Ken! I'm sure your family is very proud of you because you've definitely proven yourself here."

"Echoing what everyone else has said," Fox interrupted. "You're obviously not reinventing the wheel here. You're going to be Ryu's echo fighter obviously. But it's a lot of fun to watch you fight! No real critiques or anything. I think we're ready to come to a decision."

Ken smiled and put his arms behind his back. Fox leaned back in his seat, "All in favor of inviting Ken into the roster, say I."

"I!" All five judges announced in unison.

Fox turned back to Ken and smiled, "Congratulations, Ken! You're in!"

Ken grinned, "Awesome! Looking forward to training with you all."

"Huh," Pit uttered, "I was expecting a bigger reaction out of you, to be honest?"

Ken cocked his head with a look of confusion, "Make no mistake, I'm very excited to be part of the roster. I just don't feel the need to jump for joy or anything."

"Fair enough," Samus said, "Now get out of here so we can move on with the next audition, please!"

Ken nodded and walked off the stage. Peach began to stare at her phone. Within seconds, the princess began to gasp and dropped her phone on the table. "O-oh my god! How is this even possible?"

Fox looked confused, "How is what even possible?"

Peach took a moment to breathe, her hands remained plopped on the table as she stood up from her seat, "You guys. Somebody leaked out that Ken is part of the roster already. Everybody knows!"

"What?" Samus asked flatly.

Fox got out of his seat and paced, "How is this possible? We _just_ finished the audition! How could this information get out there so fast?"

Pit began to shout, "Which one of you is a mole? Peach, is it you? You spend a lot of time on the phone!"

Pit pointed his finger right at Peach, who pushed his hand away from her, "No! Why would I be the mole? What would I have to gain from that?"

"Uh...I don't know," Pit said uncomfortably.

"Maybe it was _you_ ," Peach argued. "You're the one who accidentally let everyone know that Simon and Richter got in a couple of days ago. I bet you've been playing dumb this entire time!"

Pit began to sweat, "I-it wasn't me, I swear!"

"Then why are you sweating so much, _Pit_? You sure do _look_ guilty!"

"You're making me nervous, Peach, that's all! I would never intentionally leak this information out there to the public. I swear!"

Samus got in between Peach and Pit, "Can you both just shut up. I know exactly who this is. It's that dumb Incineroar chick who's trying to get revenge on us and tear us apart! Why else would she have been hiding in our break room?"

"I don't know," Pit shouted, "Maybe she was trying to poison us!"

Peach screamed, "Oh my god! Oh my god! Oh my god! That would, like, totally make sense too!"

Fox got out of his seat and pinched both of Peach and Pit's lips to shut them up, "This is ridiculous! You both sound ridiculous right now. Please, just calm down! It's going to be fine."

Suddenly Captain Falcon rushed into the auditorium with a look of shock on his face. All of the judges face went blank as they looked at Falcon, preparing for whatever bad news was about to come their way, "You guys, I think you're gonna want to see what's going on out there."

* * *

The hallways were absolute madness, with no open space to move anywhere. Captain Falcon pushed characters out of their way, causing people to get squished in the process. Peach grabbed onto the back of Fox's shirt so that she couldn't be separated from him. Pit grabbed onto the skirt of Peach's dress, Little Mac grabbed onto one of Pit's wings and Samus held up the rear by grabbing onto Little Mac's arm. The halls were loud with the sounds of everybody talking over each other, but in the near distance, a chant could be heard. "Give Incineroar a second chance! Give Incineroar a second chance! Give Incineroar a second chance!"

As Captain Falcon, Fox, Peach, Pit, Little Mac, and Samus walked toward the lobby of the building. They saw Pokétrainers shouting with signs saying "JUSTICE FOR INCINEROAR" and "JUSTICE FOR MURIEL" causing actual auditionees to run out of space. Pokémon were released from their Pokéballs and were also standing around holding signs.

As the team finally exited the building, they saw Muriel standing on a pedestal carrying a sign saying "SMASH BROS HATES POKÈMON!" The team had a look of terror on their faces as they saw Muriel's cheeky grin as she stared back at them. Muriel took out her megaphone, "Hey there, Fox and friends! I hope you know that everyone knows that Ken got in _Smash Bros_! I hope you also know that everyone knows how terribly you treated me during the auditions! If you don't give me a second chance, my Incineroar will burn this building to the ground!"

Villager rushed out of the building to give Captain Falcon a spare megaphone in his hands. Captain Falcon smirked and gave Villager a thumbs up as a way of saying thanks. "I'd like to see you try!" Captain Falcon shouted, "This building is already falling to pieces. In fact, it'll probably be destroyed by the end of the day! It's a really shitty building!"

Fox snatched the megaphone away from Captain Falcon and muttered, "That is not the point right now, man!"

Just as Fox was about to speak into the microphone, Samus took it from him and spoke instead, "Listen here, loser! We _did_ give you a fair chance and you didn't impress! Get over yourself! We don't give second chances and we _definitely_ wouldn't give one to someone who broke into our break room so she could do some revenge."

The crowd began to roar louder, Fox snatched the megaphone back from Samus. "You're really not helping us right now, Samus. Why don't I talk to them?" Fox shouted over the crowd.

"Ugh, you're going to be too nice," Samus argued.

Fox didn't respond and instead spoke into the microphone, "Alright, alright, we get it! We should have treated you with more respect. Mainly Samus, she just does not treat anyone with respect."

"Hey!" Samus shouted.

Fox continued, "Can we talk this over in private, ma'am?"

Muriel hesitated for a second, "W-wait. Really?"

"Yes, really. Let's have a civil discussion over this. Just you and me! Nobody else."

"What? You've gotta be kidding me!" Samus argued, trying to be heard over the crowd. "We should all be there!"

Fox put the megaphone away from his mouth and turned to the others, "Listen, you guys keep going with the auditions without me for now. Let me talk to Muriel and see if we can talk this over or something."

"This is absolutely insane," Samus argued. "I can't believe you're actually giving her a chance."

"If it's going to stop this protest, it's worth a shot," Peach shrugged.

Samus crossed her arms, "Fine, if it's our only solu-"

Samus was interrupted by a Pokémon trainer elbowing Samus in the eye, "Ow, what the fuck!"

The trainer turned around, "Oh shit, sorry!" As the trainer turned his back toward Samus, he did a quick double take and saw Samus's eye tearing up from the injury, "I mean...no, fuck you for not giving Incineroar another chance!"

Samus put her hand over her eye, "Ugh, why do I keep doing these stupid auditions?"

"Alright, listen!" Peach shouted to Little Mac, Samus, and Pit, "If Fox is going to speak to this girl and strike up a deal, the show must go on! Now let's go back in there and keep the auditions going! Who's with me?"

Little Mac and Pit shrugged, "Yeah, I guess so."

Peach looked over at Samus, who was still trying to cover her now swollen eye, "Ugh. Fine." Samus sighed, "Anything to get this day done faster."

Peach, Samus, Little Mac, and Pit walked back inside, trying to move past the giant crowd of protestors and characters trying to get ready and audition. Fox and Captain Falcon walked toward Muriel. Fox reached out for Muriel's hand. As the two grabbed hands, the crowd began keeping a distance between Fox, Muriel, and Captain Falcon as they headed back inside the building to discuss options.


	18. Fight for Your Right to Fight

**A/N:** So of all of the chapters in this fanfic, this one is without a doubt, the longest one so far! I had a lot of ground to cover and a lot of characters that I wanted to at least feature real quick in one way or another. Not super crazy about the title of this chapter, but it's the best thing I could come up with!

We're nearing the end of this fanfic! I've got four more chapters remaining until the end, so I hope you enjoy the rest of the fanfic! I might consider doing chapters on the five DLC fighters in the future, however, it's probably going to be relatively unlikely. I guess we'll see what happens! Hope you enjoy this week's chapter!

* * *

 **Chapter 17 – Lightning Round: Fight for Your Right...to Fight**

Fox and Muriel sat down, facing each other, in the break room. Muriel put her elbows on the table, cupping her hands together. Her cupped hands were pressed against her lips, right under her nose as she took a couple of deep breaths. Fox sat across from her comfortably, leaning back in his chair, one arm on the table. He began to speak up, "So, Muriel, I will let you have the floor first. I'm sure you have a lot that you'd like to say."

Muriel crossed her arms and took another deep breath, "Well, for starters, I felt like I was treated unfairly during the audition. I was told not to speak by Samus, didn't get to show all of my Incineroar's moves before you guys made a deliberation, and you separated me from my Pokémon after the audition. I believe that I deserve a fair second chance to really show that my Incineroar is worthy of fighting. I know I did some things that are probably, a little, unprofessional, but I believe that your panel of judges was also very unprofessional as well."

Fox chuckled, "Yeah, we're pretty bad at being professional."

Muriel gave a weak smile as Fox continued, "See, here's my one thing about giving you another chance, Muriel, is that if I give you a second chance, that opens the door for everyone else who didn't get in to get that same second chance. How can you convince me otherwise?"

Muriel sat back in her chair, thinking of an answer, Fox tapped his fingers on the table as she was lost in thought.

* * *

"Alright, listen up! Since Fox is out, _I'm_ in charge here," Samus announced as she took a seat in her chair.

Peach scoffed, "Why does anyone have to be in charge in these auditions. I never believed that Fox was in charge in the first place."

"Honestly," Pit began, "I always thought Samus was in charge. She scares me more than Fox ever could."

Samus nodded with a cheeky grin, "That's what I like to hear. Let's bring out that next fighter, shall we?"

A black hedgehog walked onto the stage. His face was stoic as he stood center stage. He blinked his red eyes at the judges and clenched his white gloved hands into fists, "I am Shadow the Hedgehog. You keep making me an assist trophy and today that changes."

"Yeah...we know," Samus rolled her eyes, "I've sat through both of your auditions in the past."

Shadow started to look more annoyed, "I've been hearing whispers of a term called _Echo Fighter_ being thrown around. It sounds like a glorified way of saying clone."

"Okay...so? What's your point?" Samus asked.

"So I'm here to be Sonic's echo, as much as I hate to say that, because otherwise you won't give me the time of day," Shadow shouted.

"I, for one, think that's a great idea," Pit declared as he smiled to Shadow.

Shadow didn't respond to Pit, and only rolled his eyes at Pit's attempt to kiss his ass. As Luigi walked on stage, Shadow immediately curled up into a ball and did a quick Homing Attack on the man in green. Shadow then jumped up in a spring, allowing him to gain some air on Luigi. He then dropped quickly, his legs out ready to kick Luigi in the face. Luigi quickly rolled out of harm's way. Shadow curled up into a ball again and used his Spin Dash to catch up to Luigi, who was just simply running away.

"Alright, alright, we get it. You're just an edgy Sonic," Samus said, with no emotion in her voice. "What plans do you have for your Final Smash? Same as Sonic's?"

Shadow stopped and turned back toward the judges. He took out a gun, causing everyone to scream in terror. "Put the gun down, man! Please!" Little Mac shouted.

Peach screamed, "I'm too pretty to die!"

Shadow rolled his eyes as he put the gun away, "What a bunch of pansies."

"Got anything else, Shadow?" Samus asked with a shit eating grin on her face.

Shadow muttered, "I could do what I've always done as an assist trophy. Slow everyone down. This time, though, I can kick their ass instead of just being in the sideline."

"Wow, that's a great idea," Samus said sarcastically. "That would make for a great assist trophy. I don't think we need a Sonic echo as much as we need an assist trophy that'll slow down time!"

"Yeah, I agree," Peach responded enthusiastically. "We have enough Echo Fighters now. You've been a great assist in the past. Really helped me out in a ton of fights, honestly."

"So, all in favor of Shadow being an assist trophy, say I!" Samus announced over-enthusiastically, knowing that it would anger Shadow even more.

"I!" Peach, Samus, and Little Mac announced in unison.

"What? Seriously?" Pit shouted, "He would be such a great Echo Fighter!"

"Well, he's an assist trophy. Congratulations Shadow!" Samus responded quickly. "Looking forward to seeing you reprise your role."

"Whatever," Shadow muttered as he walked off the stage.

* * *

"So, let me get this straight," Peach began as she stared at the old brown boar with a basket of turnips on her back, "You sell turnips to people every Sunday, and now you want to fight in _Smash Bros_?"

"Why yes, kiddo," the boar began, "My name is Joan. I may be old, but if the Villager can fight, then so can I!"

"Alright, well, we'll see how this goes," Samus began, "My prediction, it's gonna be bad."

Joan threw a turnip at the bounty hunter, "That's not very nice now, kiddo, respect your elders! Also, that's my neutral special move."

"I feel like I've seen enough," Little Mac responded. "I'm pretty sure Peach uses this move."

Peach grabbed the turnip from Samus's hand and investigated it, "Eek, there are bugs on this turnip! So gross!"

The princess grabbed a fly swatter and started hitting the ants, flees, or whatever they were that were inhabiting the turnip. Samus, Pit and Little Mac watched her swatting the flies with a sense of awe.

"That...that would make a great assist trophy," Little Mac whispered.

"I say yes to the fly swatter being an assist," Pit declared. The others shouted in unison.

Joan stood on the stage with a blank stare, "So is that it for me or something?"

"Yup," Samus stated, "I'm afraid so. Thank you for your time, ma'am."

"Ah, shoot," the boar sighed, "I really thought that turnip move was going to convince you otherwise."

The judges didn't see or hear Joan walk off the stage as they watched Peach continue to swat the flies in the room. One of the flies landed on Pit's nose, causing Peach to swat Pit in the face. He grunted in slight pain as he grabbed the fly swatter from Peach's hand, "I think you need to stop."

There were now a couple of flies in the auditorium room, but the bad auditions were still just getting started for these judges.

* * *

As for Fox and Muriel, the conversation was remaining civil. Muriel was still trying to find an answer to convince Fox that she could audition again, but she didn't have a response. Fox got out of his seat and began to pace around, "Okay, here's an idea. You can audition with another Pokémon if you'd like."

Muriel thought about it, "I mean, I guess so, but I really want to have my Incineroar fight. I've had him from the beginning and I want the best for him!"

"Didn't he attack you during his audition? Why do you love this Incineroar so much? You would be separated from him if he got into _Smash Brothers_."

"Well," Muriel began, "I wasn't prepared for him to start attacking, but I know that he loves me and that I love him. Maybe he just got nervous when he auditioned? I can't really explain it, but that's not really him, I swear!"

Fox nodded, still with a confused look on his face, "But are you okay with being separated from Incineroar? You seemed to have a problem with it the last time you guys were separated."

"That's because I didn't know where he was or if he was in safe hands. As long as I get to watch him fight and visit every now and then, I don't actually mind the separation," Muriel argued. "I guess I don't mind using another Pokémon, I just really want to use Incineroar, that's all."

"Do you have another Incineroar, maybe?"

Muriel laughed, "You can't find an Incineroar in the wild! I got my Incineroar as a gift for becoming a Pokémon trainer, back when he was a cute little Litten. Man, did he get pretty ugly as he evolved into Incineroar though."

"Alright, well, here's my proposition," Fox began, "I will let you audition again. However, you can't use your Incineroar. He had his chance, and he failed. Maybe next time."

"Wait," Muriel shouted, "What if I trained Incineroar a bit and teach him some new moves?"

"I stand by what I said," Fox responded as he opened the door for Muriel to leave, "Unless the others argue otherwise, you'll have to choose another Pokémon. I'll give you a couple of hours to figure out what you want to do, but you have to be ready by the end of the day for the audition."

Muriel sighed as she walked out the door, "Okay."

* * *

Fox walked back into the auditorium to see a boxer with blue, springy, extendable arms reaching out and punching Luigi around. Fox took his seat next to the others who watched in awe. He then went back to the center stage and bowed, "Thank you, very much."

"Hi, sorry I'm late," Fox said, "I was dealing with something. Who are you and what did I miss?"

"Oh, I'm Spring Man, from the recent _ARMS_ series. I have recently won the ARMS Grand Prix and now I am here to be a part of _Super Smash Brothers._ "

"Great," Fox responded, "So what other moves did I miss?"

"Oh, you didn't miss any moves, he just showed us this one move and it was _so cool!_ " Peach responded with gusto in her voice.

"Wait, that was it?" Fox said. "All you do is punch people or whatever?"

"I mean, there's more," Spring Man said.

"To be honest, it does seem like the extendable arms gimmick would be too broken during a fight," Little Mac interrupted. "It's cool, but like, in an assist trophy sense you know? You'd make a great assist trophy. I know because I was once an assist trophy too, back in 2008."

"Wow," Spring Man smiled, "That was _way_ before my time, man."

"Right," Fox said, "What about the rest of you? What do you think?"

"Meh, it's pretty cool," Samus said haphazardly. "Like you're clearly a good fighter, and the extendable arms are really awesome. I just don't think you're ready to be a fighter _just yet_ , y'know."

"And there's honestly nothing wrong with being an assist trophy either," Peach said in a kind tone, "We have plenty of fighters who started out as assist trophies, actually!"

"Yeah, but that's so rare," Pit complained. "We also have assist trophies who have just been stuck as assist trophies, like Shadow the Hedgehog."

"Okay, Pit's being a Debbie Downer, but unlike Waluigi or Shadow the Hedgehog, I think you'll be a fighter in due time," Samus explained, "Just... _not now_."

"Yeah, that sounds good to me," Spring Man nodded, "I'm honestly just excited to be part of this thing in the first place. I don't mind making a cameo every so often!"

"Great, well it seems like it's decided," Fox announced. "Any objections?"

Pit sighed, "Uh...I have one."

"Well, majority rules." Fox responded, "Have a good day, Spring Man, and congratulations on joining the _Smash Ultimate_ Assist Trophy roster!"

Spring Man reached his arm all the way to the judge's desk, "Thanks, man! Give me some pound!"

Fox looked at the pink boxing glove and reluctantly fist bumped the boxer. The man retracted his arm. He took the glove off and fixed his blue hair before walking off of the stage. The others looked over at Fox, clearly ready to hear how his discussion with Muriel went.

"So? You guys were in there for, like, a solid half hour or so? How did it go?" Samus asked. "Is she finally out of our hair for good?"

Fox shook his head, "No, no she is not. She auditioning with a different Pokémon at the end of the day."

Little Mac crossed his arms and scoffed, "Seems a little unfair if you ask me. She had her chance."

"Well, it doesn't guarantee that her Pokémon is going to get in, so we'll see what happens," Fox responded. "She's not the one auditioning, her Pokémon is."

Samus sucked her teeth, "By that logic, every Pokémon trainer who auditions can audition every single Pokémon they have."

"I mean, you could, technically," Fox explained, "The Pokémon is the one auditioning, not the trainer."

Samus was prepared to make a remark, but before her voice could be heard, Peach put her hand on Samus's mouth, "You know what? I don't need to hear this argument right now. We still have a lot of auditions to sit through, don't you all agree?"

* * *

The auditions continued, all ranging from bad to okay at best.

A young, teenage girl walked onto the stage with a camera in hand. She had long, dark hair that rested near her chest. She wore a white blouse and a pair of shorts. Her black boots echoed across the room as she took each step, "My name is Yuri Kozukata from _Fatal Frame_ , and I'm here to audition as an assist trophy for _Super Smash Brothers Ultimate_."

"Someone auditioning with the goal of being just an assist trophy? I feel like that rarely happens," Samus commented. "What do you do?"

Yuri didn't say a word, she lifted up her camera and looked through the lens. She clicked the button on the camera to take a photo of the judges seated before her. The camera light flashed, and the judges froze for a brief couple of seconds.

"Whoa," Peach gasped, "I thought I saw my life _flash_ before my eyes right there!"

There was a brief moment of silence before Little Mac began to crack up. The rest of the panel before to join in before there was a roar of laughter between the five judges. Yuri stood on stage in silence, completely unfazed by the pun that Peach just made.

"It's a yes from all of us. Congratulations Yuri, you're in," Fox announced in between occasional fits of laughter.

Once again, Yuri didn't say a word as she quietly walked off stage, letting the judges have their little moment. As she left, Peach looked around at everyone who was still laughing, "Okay guys, it wasn't _that_ funny. It was just a stupid pun!"

* * *

Later in the day, another teenager walked on the stage. He had blue eyes and messy blonde hair. He was wearing blue armor, brown gloves and boots, and a yellow cape, additionally, he was carrying a sword on his back. Fox stared at the boy as he walked on the stage, "I know you. You've auditioned before haven't you?"

The boy smiled and nodded, "Yes, my name is Isaac from _Golden Sun_. I was an assist trophy in _Brawl_ , and for some reason, you cut me out of _Smash Bros. 4_. I still don't know why you did that."

Samus shrugged, "I don't know, that was a couple of years ago. I don't remember why in particular. Anyway, can you tell us more about yourself? What brought you here today?"

Isaac crossed his arms, "Because I have a strong cult following that is pushing for me to be more than just an assist trophy. I'm doing this for them!"

"Cult following?" Peach asked, "So what you're saying is that there is only a small handful of people that really want you to be part of _Ultimate_?"

"Yeah, well, I believe I was a frontrunner on the _Smash 4_ ballot, rumor has it," Isaac responded. "So, maybe not as small as you might think?"

"Well, let's disregard that ballot and see if you have what it takes," Fox announced. "The floor is yours."

Isaac looked around the room, looking for who he was supposed to fight. Luigi eventually trudged himself onto the stage with a sigh as he stared at Isaac. Isaac used a Psynergy spell to conjure a hand onto the stage. With his abilities, he allowed the hand to move across the stage, pushing Luigi further away. Luigi jumped up into the air to avoid the hand. As Luigi closed in on Isaac and began to attack him, Isaac conjured up another hand that began grasping the man in green, which threw him onto the floor. Luigi rubbed his head before he saw a golden hand hovering over him in the form of a fist. The fist landed on Luigi multiple times, causing Luigi to scream in pain.

Isaac then jumped into the air and landed right before Luigi, causing the stage to shake. Isaac began to shoot a couple of spires out of his hands. Luigi once again shrieked as the stabbing pain of the spires began. Isaac then grabbed his sword and began slashing at Luigi. He then followed up the fight with his big psynergy hand grabbing Luigi once again and threw Mario's younger brother onto the ground.

Fox interrupted Isaac with a round of applause, "Well done, man! Great job! I think we've seen enough to make a decision."

Isaac smiled as he walked back toward the center stage with confidence, having the belief that he was going to be the next fighter to join the _Smash Ultimate_ roster. He looked over at Pit, who looked ready to say a whole lot.

"First of all," Pit began, "I just wanted to say I'm a big fan of you and _Golden Sun_ , and I think you have a super original moveset. So different from what we've seen before. I think you have the potential to be such a great fighter on our roster."

Little Mac nodded in agreement, "I think you do have a lot of potential, and I think that you would be a great addition to the roster. We haven't seen too many people with your abilities, and it's clear you'd be more than just some guy with a sword that we seem to see a lot of."

Isaac smiled with a sense of pride, after all of this time he was finally going to get his shining moment. That was until he heard Samus speak. "Look, you've got talent, and clearly have a lot of great moves. I just don't think you've shown us everything you're capable of."

Peach sighed and nodded, "I have to say I kind of agree with Samus on this one," the princess began. She ignored the sounds of Pit booing as she continued, "The moves are good, you've got a decent following of beloved fans. I just feel like you don't fully know what you want to be as a fighter, and I'm starting to get pickier when it comes to deciding who should be a fighter. I think you have the potential to be more than an assist trophy in the future. Just not now."

Isaac began to frown as he turned his face to Fox, who sighed a bit, "It's so easy to deny someone who shows up woefully unprepared for the audition. However, I can't believe I'm saying this, you showed up too prepared. You clearly have a ton of great moves but I think you need some time to see what works and what doesn't. I'm sure you don't want to be an assist trophy, but I feel like you should stick with being an assist for now."

Isaac sighed once again, "Well that kinda sucks to hear, honestly."

"All in favor of Isaac being a fighter say I!" Pit exclaimed, in hopes to lighten the mood. He and Little Mac shouted "I!" as Peach, Samus, and Fox remained silent.

Fox muttered, "All in favor of Isaac being an assist trophy, say I!" To which he, Peach and Samus all agreed. Fox sighed once again, "Congratulations Isaac, you're in _Smash Bros. Ultimate_ as an assist trophy."

Isaac attempted to give a genuine smile and thank the judges for his time as he walked off the stage, and was for the most part successful. Fox sighed, "I really wanted to say yes to him being a fighter, but something inside me said no right now."

Peach and Samus both nodded as Pit sulked in his seat, "I'm so mad that my dream didn't become a reality," the angel muttered.

Just then, Muriel walked onto the stage with her Pokéball in hand, she looked at the judges who looked a little dejected, "Is now a bad time? I was told I'm going to be the last person to audition today."

Fox sighed as he looked up at Muriel, "No, you're fine, Muriel. Which Pokémon did you choose?"

Muriel let out a deep breath before summoning her Incineroar from her Pokéball, ready to hear the judges berate her, "I know you said that I had to use a different Pokémon, Fox, but Incineroar is the one I believe in. I taught him some new moves so he's different than the way he was before, I swear!"

"Are you serious?" Samus shouted. "We said no to Incineroar for a reason. Stop trying to shove him down our throats! This is absolutely ridiculous."

"I'm sorry, Muriel, I told you that Incineroar couldn't audition for a reason. He didn't get in, and it's not fair if he gets to have a second chance," Fox explained.

Pit stood up on his seat and shouted, "Shut up guys!"

Everyone sat in silence and looked up at Pit who had a look of anger on his face, "I know it's not fair for us to give Incineroar a second chance when we said no before. Incineroar isn't even a Pokémon that I feel super passionate about including in _Smash Bros._ However, we let Muriel take the time to choose and prepare something for the audition and she chose Incineroar. We didn't give her or her Incineroar the time of day last time, so maybe this time, we really should open our eyes and actually pay attention to who auditions. Because ultimately, we've been denying people the chance to join _Smash Brothers_ for the smallest, nitpickiest things for the past week. Let's actually see what this giant cat...thing can do!"

In Pit's mind, he heard the sounds of patriotic music behind him. Maybe he was even expecting an army of slow claps echo in the room as he finished his speech. In reality, the room was just silent, and everyone just awkwardly stared at him.

"Of all of the speeches I've heard, that one had to be the messiest, most awful speech yet," Fox responded, "And yet, for some reason, it really convinced me to give Incineroar a chance. I can't believe I'm saying this, but yes, Muriel, Incineroar can audition again..."

"What!? No way!" Samus shouted, "That's ridiculous, Fox!"

"You know what, I agree with Fox," Peach said, "That speech _was_ awful. But if Pit feels so passionate about letting Incineroar audition again, I guess he should...audition again."

"Thank you," Pit said as he sat down once again.

Muriel's mouth was open in shock, she began to smile and look at her Incineroar. It looked like that redemption was no longer just some pipe dream, but an actual reality.


	19. Incineroar's Second Chance

**A/N:** After last week's very long chapter, here's a much shorter, quicker to the point chapter. We now have three more chapters left to publish until the end of the fanfic, and a little under three more weeks until the release of _Ultimate_. Hope you enjoy this week's chapter!

* * *

 **Chapter 18 – Incineroar's Second Chance**

Muriel stood in the background with her hands behind her back. The young Pokémon trainer was breathing heavily, anxious to see if her second chance was truly worth her time. Her Incineroar was now standing across from Luigi, the two fighters eyes locked. This was truly going to be one of the most intense auditions _Smash Bros._ has ever seen, at least that's what Muriel was thinking.

"Oh my god, what's _taking_ so _long_?" Pit shouted, "I can't keep waiting. Somebody do _something_!"

Samus leaned in toward Fox and whispered, "I have a feeling this is going to be a shit show, what do you think?"

Fox rolled his eyes, "Be quiet, Incineroar's about to do something."

Incineroar remained grounded as Luigi started to walk, slowly, toward the giant red furball of a Pokémon. Incineroar extended his arms and started to spin rapidly, slapping Luigi in the face consistently and with rigor. Luigi had a couple of bruises on his face after Incineroar's constant slaps, but the man was still going strong. Incineroar then grabbed Luigi and tossed him offstage, only for Luigi to be ricocheted back to the Pokémon after bouncing against a wrestling ring rope. Luigi may wonder where that rope could have possibly come from, and that may be an answer that even Muriel may not even know.

Luigi did try to fight back. Luigi threw a couple of punches, but Incineroar shielded just in time to avoid the attacks. Incineroar headbutted Luigi and did a quick roundhouse kick while Luigi was still down. The Pokémon looked at the judges with confidence, but all five members of the panel had emotionless looks on their faces.

This prompted Incineroar to fight even harder. Luigi was still laying on the floor, trying to get the motivation to stand up. The giant red and black bipedal feline jumped up in the air, performing a small somersault before thrusting his legs down on Luigi. Luigi gasped in pain but finally managed to stand up straight, staring into the eyes of the Incineroar.

Luigi started to fight back again, throwing some more punches and shooting out his famous green fireballs. Luigi used his cyclone move as he gained momentum on Incineroar, but was not prepared for the Pokémon's counter attack. Luigi's move did technically hit Incineroar, as Incineroar did visibly take some damage from Luigi's attack. What Luigi did not know was the Incineroar was now more powerful from the counterattack. Incineroar performed a Cross Chop on Luigi. He jumped up in the air and pounced on Luigi. The man in green screamed and the Incineroar watched his agony with a cocky grin.

Fox began to clap, causing the others to clap along as well, "Okay, okay, I think we've seen enough."

The Incineroar went to the center stage to listen to the judges. Muriel walked back next to the Incineroar and smiled, it seemed to go well, maybe this time her goal would actually be a reality.

"First," Fox began, "Muriel, could you tell us about Incineroar's Final Smash for us? Then we can begin our deliberation."

Muriel nodded, "Yeah, so, if Incineroar lands his attack, he uses his Pokémon Z-Move, Max Malicious Moonsault, on one opponent. My Incineroar will then throw that opponent into a fighting ring and deal a ton of damage...It looks much more impressive than it sounds."

"Well, it already sounds very impressive to begin with," Fox nodded. "So, who wants to go first?"

The judges all went silent, waiting for somebody else to speak up. Fox then nudged Samus's shoulder. Samus glared at Fox before clearing her throat, "We didn't give you a fair chance last time. _I,_ in particular, didn't give you a very fair chance last time. So...I'm..."

Samus paused. The other judges moved closer onto Samus as she struggled to have more words come out of her mouth, "...Really glad that you got another chance with your Incineroar. But know this, I still don't like you, Muriel."

Peach sighed, "I really thought Samus was actually going to apologize to Muriel right then."

"Didn't we all?" Little Mac shrugged.

Muriel smiled, "Well, the feeling is certainly mutual, Samus, I can't say that I'm a huge fan of you either, to be honest."

"Great," Fox said, tapping his hands on the table, "Glad that's...been settled. Peach, Pit, Little Mac, got anything you'd like to say?"

"Well," Peach muttered, "As a woman who literally has never made a mistake in her life..."

Samus interrupted with a sigh. She covered her eyes with her hands. Peach looked over at Samus, who didn't move, "No, keep going Peach, say whatever you were going to say."

Peach rolled her eyes at Samus, but turned back to Muriel and her Incineroar with a warm smile, "I was going to say that I _did_ make a mistake yesterday in dismissing your Incineroar as just another Pokémon. That was the best Pokémon audition that we've seen all week. Very cool moves! We barely even had the chance to see your Incineroar's full potential because we were so quick to dismiss it."

Muriel smiled back, "Thank you. I really appreciate that."

"Okay, calm down, this isn't actually about you, it's about your Incineroar," Peach responded. "Okay, I'm done. Who wants to talk next? Pit? How about you?"

Pit smiled nervously and began to sweat, "Well, uh, yeah, I'm glad that we gave you a second chance. I fought for you because I did truly believe that we were wrong last time and that your Incineroar deserved the second chance more than anyone. Those were some really cool moves. I don't think we have any wrestler styled movesets in _Ultimate_ , so Incineroar would uh...definitely be a breath of fresh air in my opinion."

"Thank you again for the second chance," Muriel said, with a grin on her face.

"Oh my god, Muriel, this isn't about you! Shut up!" Samus shouted.

Muriel put her hands in her pockets and ignored Samus, she looked over at Little Mac, who had remained silent. Little Mac looked around and cleared his throat, "Oh, uh, I guess it's my turn."

Little Mac took a deep breath in and a deep breath out, "That was good," he said in a low volume, "Definitely going to be a force to be reckoned with, and I think that it'll be fun to see Incineroar on the battlefield as a fighter."

"Wow, what an anticlimactic buildup," Fox retorted, "I will say that we've seen a lot of Pokémon audition, and it's usually pretty underwhelming most of the time. This was a great audition, and while I'm still mad that you basically made today a bit of a living hell for all of us, you fought tooth and nail to get your Incineroar to shoot his shot. However, as Samus said, I'm also not a particularly huge fan of you, Muriel."

"Alright, I think we're ready to make a decision," Fox said, "All in favor of including Incineroar in _Smash Bros,_ say I."

"I!" Fox, Peach, Pit, and Little Mac all agreed.

"Wait, Samus, you say no?" Peach asked.

"Yeah," Samus responded, "Not because Incineroar was bad, but because of Muriel's behavior over the past day. She _did_ break into this building _and_ spied on us."

"Alright, well it's decided," Fox announced. "Incineroar is in _Super Smash Bros. Ultimate_! Congratulations!"

Muriel didn't respond. She kept her hands in her pockets, waiting for the deliberation. She looked at her Incineroar, standing big, tall, and confident, knowing that this was going to be the start of his _Smash_ career, but most likely the end of his _Pokémon_ career. She sniffed and began to tear up as she thought about how the two were about to be separated for a while.

Fox looked at Muriel, "Is everything okay? Are you...crying?"

Muriel sniffed again, "It's just that I'm scared to be separated from my Incineroar that's all. We've been together from the very beginning and now I'm never going to see him because he's going to be so busy with _Smash._ "

"I did warn you about this, Muriel. You know that, right?" Fox asked.

Muriel nodded while rubbing her eyes, "I know, I know. It's just that it's real now, and I can't believe it's happening."

"We can find another Incineroar, you know. We don't have to use yours," Peach responded. "There are plenty of them out there."

Muriel had a look of skepticism on her face. She pursed her lips and squinted her eyes saying, "I don't believe that you would do something like that."

Samus shrugged, "Pokémon are replaceable. We can get an Incineroar with the same moveset that we just saw."

Muriel shook her head and clenched onto her Incienroar's arm, "No, uh...that won't be necessary. I want _my_ Incineroar to be in _Super Smash Bros._ "

"Well, you're going to have to make this sacrifice if you want _your_ Incineroar to be in _Smash Bros,_ " Fox responded.

"What's it going to be, Muriel?" Peach asked, "Give up your Pokémon or have us find a different Incineroar?"

Muriel looked at her Incineroar with sad eyes, but gave him a warm embrace, "I can't wait to see you fight," she whispered to her Pokémon. She sent her Incineroar back into its Pokéball and threw the ball to Fox. Fox reached his hand out to catch the ball, but Muriel's throw was a little too high for Fox to catch. The ball hit the tip of Fox's hand and fell onto the ground.

Fox picked up the ball from the ground, "Thanks, Muriel, but we don't actually need Incineroar until the beginning of December." Fox threw the ball back to Muriel a little too quickly, smacking Muriel right in the face. "Sorry about that, but enjoy the next few months with him. We'll let you know when we need him."

Muriel smiled, "Thank you." She walked off the stage and the lights on the stage began to dim.

Fox got out of his seat and head towards the door, "Well, it looks like it's almost over team. We've got one more day and then we have our entire roster!"

"Ugh, this week can't go by fast enough can it?" Samus complained.

"Well, I just can't believe it's almost over. This has been such a crazy experience!" Peach cheered. "It's been a great bonding session with all of you. I feel closer to all of you now more than ever."

The other judges didn't really react to Peach's comment. Everyone was already out of their seats and heading out the door. The remainder of the lights in the auditorium were starting to turn off, leaving the princess of the Mushroom Kingdom alone in near darkness. "Has it really been _that_ bad?" She asked herself.

Princess Peach got out of her seat and walked out the door. The building was now mostly empty. From the hallways, to the cafeteria, to the loby, there were only a few more stragglers remaining, who would have to come back the next day to finally get their long awaited chance to audition. With only one day left, the judges were now down to the wire to find out who else, if anyone, would be joining the roster before it became finalized.


	20. Geno Was His Name-O

**A/N:** I was not expecting to get this chapter finished this weekend, but I somehow managed to pull it off. Figured I'd do one last semi-joke chapter before I finished this fanfic up. As someone who knows very little about _Super Mario RPG_ this was a pretty fun chapter to write, and I'm happy with the result. So here's hoping you are too!

* * *

 **Chapter 19 – Geno Was His Name-O**

The last day of auditions had finally arrived, and the crowds were significantly much lighter now compared to the rest of the week. The potential fighters auditioning remained in a clean, single file line, the cafeteria housed a small handful of characters having something to eat before their opportunity to audition, and there was enough space for everyone to keep a reasonable distance from each other.

Meanwhile, in the judge's break room, Fox was hosting a quick meeting for the final day of auditions. He stood up at the front of the room, while the others sat at the circular table before him, all visibly exhausted.

"Alright team, I sent the higher ups our current list of newcomers and I was told that we are already at capacity for _Super Smash Bros. Ultimate,_ " Fox announced, his hands behind his back and his chin up.

Samus sighed, "So, if we're at capacity, why are we still doing auditions? Can't we just, I don't know, go home or something?"

Fox smirked, "Well, I was also informed that there are going to be six fighters who will join the roster at a later date as DLC. We get to choose one character who will join the fight around January or February while HQ chooses the other five."

The four other judges didn't really react to this announcement, each avoiding eye contact with Fox and fidgeting in their seats. Fox lifted his eyebrow, "I was expecting there to be some excitement when I said that. You all seem kind of underwhelmed."

Samus raised her voice, "That's because we're just doing what we've been doing this entire week. Why would that be exciting?"

Peach leaned in and whispered to Samus, "If we just accept the first person who auditions today, we can get out of here and go home early!"

Samus snickered, "I like the thought of that, princess."

"No, no," Fox interrupted, "We're not just going to let anyone in, guys. I get that we're all tired and over it at this point, but we have the chance to find one more fighter, let's end it on a great note!"

"Exactly!" Pit chimed in, "This is our chance to introduce a character to _Super Smash Brothers_ that literally _everyone_ will love. Our options are limitless!"

"Well, maybe not limitless," Peach responded, "Our options are limited to the people who are auditioning."

Fox crossed his arms and headed toward the door, "Alright, enough bickering, let's just get out there and get this started."

* * *

The judge's sat down in their seats for one last day. Little Mac took a deep breath and sniffed in the smell of an old, dusty auditorium, causing him to sneeze, "Ugh, I won't miss this damn auditorium."

Fox sighed, "Alright, why doesn't everyone complain about this place one more time so we can all get it out of our systems, then we can rush through these auditions. Shall we?"

Pit started, "It smells like multiple people have died in here."

"I'm surprised I haven't puked, this place is so disgusting," Samus replied.

"You would think that an event as huge as _Smash Bros_ would have the decency to host the auditions in a nice building, right?" Peach asked.

"Clearly not," Little Mac answered, "This might be the most depressing place I've ever been, and the auditions are some of the most painful things I've had to sit through."

"Great!" Fox announced, "Now that you've all let it out. We can just get this over with!"

"Um...Fox, don't you have something to complain about? If we're clearing the air, you should let it out, too!" Peach smiled.

"Well, it's impossible to clear the air in this building because of how old and dusty it is, so I'll pass," Fox mumbled. "Who's up first?"

A wooden puppet-like creature, with a blue hat and blue cape, walked onto the stage. Immediately, Pit began to gasp and fangirl as he saw the figure get on stage, "Oh my gosh! Geno! He's finally auditioning!"

Geno smiled and waved as he hit center stage, "Great to be here! I'm excited to finally audition to be in _Smash Brothers_."

Fox nodded, "Nice to meet you, Geno. Have you auditioned before? You seem kinda familiar."

Geno crossed his arms and shook his head, "I didn't audition before, but my likeness was used as a Mii costume back in _Smash 4_."

Fox smiled, "Ah, yes, I remember that. I don't know how the whole Mii costume design process works, but we're glad to see you here at the auditions today. I'm sure Pit is super ecstatic."

Pit was quietly squealing in his seat, "I've been saying all week that I've been ready for you to audition, and have been so annoyed that it took until now for you to come up here and put yourself out there."

"Well, thanks! The following I've received has really pushed me to put myself out there, and now I'm ready to get back into the fighting spirit," Geno proclaimed.

Geno turned his head toward Peach and looked at her with a smile, "It's so nice to see you again, Princess Peach! Long time, no see!"

Peach took one look at Geno, and immediately responded, "I'm sorry. Who are you and where did we meet?"

Geno chuckled, "We were in Super Mario RPG together back in the '90s. Remember? I teamed up with you, Bowser, and Mario?" Geno gestured to himself, hoping the Peach would make the connection.

Peach stroked her chin, hoping to put two and two together, but to no avail, "I'm sorry, I just don't really remember you. The '90s were a wild time, it all kind of meshes together, I guess."

Geno frowned slightly, but brushed it off quickly, "I guess I understand that. However, doesn't mean we don't know each other."

Peach shrugged, "I'm not denying that I don't know you. I'm sure I do. I just don't really remember it all that well."

"I mean, it's Princess Peach, she is pretty dumb," Samus interjected.

While Peach glared over at Samus, Fox jumped back into the conversation, "So tell me, Geno, what else have you done besides _Super Mario RPG_. Could you also remind me of when _Super Mario RPG_ was released as well?"

"Yeah," Geno began, " _Super Mario RPG_ came out in 1996 right before the Nintendo 64 era, and that's pretty much all I've been in. Well...that and a cameo in _Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga_."

Peach snapped her fingers, "Oh yes, now I remember you! Sorry, _Super Mario 64_ was just more exciting. No idea how else to say it."

"Weren't you playable in _Super Mario RPG_? Cause you were just the damsel in distress in _Super Mario 64,_ " Pit responded.

"I don't know what to tell you," Peach shrugged again. "But I do appreciate how this has become a conversation about me. What else about me do we want to talk about?"

"Your huge ass eyes and your weird head," Samus smirked.

"Alright, can we _please_ get back on topic here?" Fox begged. "Why don't you go right ahead Geno, and show us what you're working with?"

Luigi walked onto the stage with a sigh. Geno rushed over with enthusiasm and threw a couple of punches and kicks Luigi's way. Geno charged up the Star Gun on his hand and aimed it at Luigi, sending a large energy beam at Luigi. Luigi flinched and flew back slightly. Luigi jumped over Geno and attacked him with some fireballs and a couple of punches from behind. Geno turned around and threw a disk of light Luigi's way. The disk made impact on Luigi's chest, and the attack pushed him back a couple of feet.

Luigi threw a couple of fireballs back toward Geno. Geno used his chance to show off his recovery to the judges. Geno conjured up a cannon, rolled up into a ball, and shot up in the air, flying over Luigi and avoiding all of his attacks. He finished up with his Geno Blast, multicolored beams appeared on the ground. Luigi, who was on Geno's left, was hit by one of the beams and flew away from the stage, landing right on his butt. Luigi shrieked in pain, "I am not getting up right now. I'm done."

Pit began clapping profusely, "Well done, Geno! That was great!"

The others clapped less intensely, as Pit was on his feet. Geno gave a bow to his "audience" and stood confidently on center stage.

"Alright, Geno! Well done, but before we deliberate and give critiques, we need to know what you're thinking for your Final Smash," Fox explained.

Geno gave a look of shock and blushed with embarrassment, "I, uh...don't have any ideas, actually. I completely forgot about that."

"Well, it's not a big deal in my opinion," Pit responded with gusto, "You came so well prepared and had a ton of great weapons in your arsenal. I think people will love to watch you fight! You'd be great."

Little Mac rolled his eyes, "Look, I think you're good, but I'm not going to kiss your ass like Pit does, for some reason. I felt like the moves were alright. They felt a little uninspired, and I feel like you just didn't bring anything new to the table that makes you particularly unique."

Peach sighed, "I wanted to really enjoy seeing you fight and give you a yes with flying colors, but I just wasn't feeling it. Plus, the fact that you don't have any Final Smash ideas is a bit of a strike against you, I'm afraid."

Pit screeched, "What? You guys are telling me you don't like him? I thought you guys would be all over Geno."

"It's not that we don't like _him_ , we just don't think his moves are really standout. Plus, the fact that he hasn't been in anything for a little over two decades is another strike against him for me, to be honest. I know we have characters like Mr. Game & Watch and the Ice Climbers, but they brought something new and Geno doesn't really do that. Sorry," Samus replied.

Fox disagreed, "I liked it. I know that Pit and I are outnumbered, but I was pretty impressed."

"I'm not saying that I'm not impressed," Samus argued, "I'm just saying that I'm not impressed _enough_ , you know what I mean?"

"Yeah, what Samus just said, that's how I feel," Peach responded.

"Shut up, Peach," Samus mumbled.

Fox cleared his throat, "Anyway, I was impressed with your moves and thought you would be a good fit. However, you didn't even have a very basic, half-baked idea of what to do for your Final Smash, and that ruined a good audition for me, I'm afraid."

"I understand," Geno sighed.

"To be completely frank with you, we've got one spot left, and we're looking for someone who will knock all of our socks off. There might be a chance that you could be DLC in the future," Fox continued.

"Oh, I meant to ask this," Peach interrupted, "But _Super Mario RPG_ , was that Nintendo developed, do you recall, Geno?"

Geno sighed, "No it's Square Enix."

Peach clenched her teeth, "Ooh, yikes, their lawyers can be _real_ finicky."

Samus interrupted Peach's interruption with a heartfelt comment, "Geno, I think the general consensus is that you're good, but not ready. Maybe, there will be a slight chance that our higher ups will consider you for potential DLC, assuming that the politics work out in your favor. Thank you for your time, however, this was good."

"Wow," Peach responded, "That was a surprisingly nice comment, Samus, I didn't know you had that in you."

Samus laughed, "I can be nice. Do you really think I'm really cold-hearted?"

"Maybe."

Pit sighed, "Geno, I'm so sorry you're not in, I would have loved to have you be part of the roster, but I guess the others make a good point, too."

Geno smiled, "Well, I'm glad that you were all willing to take time out of your day to watch me fight Luigi."

Little Mac cut in, "That's literally our job."

"Well, thank you as well," Fox answered, "Best of luck in your future endeavors."

Geno walked off the stage with his head held high. He may not have gotten the answer he desired, but was happy to have his time in the sun. The judges remained planted in their seats, stretching their arms and legs, preparing for the next fighter to convince them they deserve to be their final pick for _Ultimate._


	21. The Powerful Piranha

**A/N:** Well, here we are. The last audition! Can't believe we've reached this point. This was an interesting chapter to write, and I hope there's at least one moment that makes you chuckle just a little bit. We've got one last chapter until it's all over! We're just under a week now until _Ultimate_ hits the store shelves. Are you ready?

* * *

 **Chapter 20 – The Powerful Piranha**

The first audition of the last day was done, and the judges were feeling...oddly energized right now. While Geno turned out to not be the candidate they were looking for, they were excited about the prospects of their final fighter...and also being able to maybe be done early for the day.

Meanwhile, in the lobby, a young, red-hooded Shy Guy sat in one of the seats with a red, white spotted potted Piranha Plant right in front of him. He reached his stubby arm out to pet the plant as his way of encouragement. Captain Falcon walked up to the Shy Guy, noting how odd it was to see a potted plant in the building. He pointed to the Shy Guy as it looked up at him, "So...is his plant here to watch you audition?"

Shy Guy beamed, "No, _he's_ auditioning to be in _Smash Bros._ "

Captain Falcon didn't say a word, he couldn't think of a single thing to even say. Shy Guy continued, "This piranha plant has been in my family for years! It's overcome so much adversity, and I'm so proud of it no matter if it makes it into _Smash_ or not."

Captain Falcon squinted, "Adversity? What adversity has it overcome?"

The Shy Guy sniffed and began to well up, "My family found this piranha plant on the side of the road one day when I was young. It was separated from its family. So my parents and I decided to take it home and raise it ourselves. Most piranha plants are treated very poorly in the Mushroom Kingdom, you know."

Captain Falcon put his hand over the Shy Guy's face in order to shut him up, "I'm sorry I even asked."

Shy Guy did not hesitate to continue speaking though, "So, when can we go see the judges? My piranha plant can get kind of flustered when it has to wait all day."

Piranha plant smiled and quickly jumped and down from its pot as if to insinuate excitement. Captain Falcon shrugged, "Whatever, I guess you guys can go. They'll probably need a good laugh."

Captain Falcon motioned for the Shy Guy and his piranha plant to follow him. Shy Guy hopped out of his seat and followed right behind the bounty hunter with his piranha plant scuffling behind.

* * *

"So, we're feeling good right now?" Fox asked, noticing that nobody was slouching in their seats or distracting themselves with one thing or another.

"Yeah, I feel oddly ready to take on the rest of the day. I'm ready to be here all day if I have to," Little Mac declared as he pounded his fists to the table.

Samus laughed, "I definitely wouldn't go that far. I'm ready to get out of here before lunch if we can, personally. So let's bring it on!"

The timing could not be more perfect for the judges, as just when Samus declared she was ready for that next audition, Shy Guy and his piranha plant walked onto the stage. The Shy Guy waved to the judges without saying a word. His Piranha Plant waved its leaves (which the judges assumed they were its hands) to the judges right after. The plant had a wide, toothy smile as it stared out to the judge's table, even though the plant didn't have any eyes.

The judges all began to crack up laughing, "Have we really scraped the bottom of the barrel here?" Samus asked.

Peach, gasping for air, responded, "I think you mean, the bottom of the _pot._ "

Fox wiped a tear from his face as he began catching his breath, "Hoo boy, this is definitely the strangest thing I have seen in all of my years of doing these auditions. Thanks for the laugh, guys. We definitely needed it."

Shy Guy bowed, "We're glad we could brighten your day a bit. Allow me to introduce you to Piranha Plant, I've been training it for years so that it could one day join the ranks of Nintendo's legends."

Fox's smile faded slightly, "Oh my god, you're completely serious. Like, this isn't even a joke."

"Why would it be a joke?" Shy Guy responded, with a lack of emotion.

"Well, tell us about Piranha Plant, why is...he or she here today? What's the story?" Pit asked.

"Hoo boy," Shy Guy began, "Where do I start?"

Samus rolled her eyes, "Oh boy, here we go."

Shy Guy took a deep breath and tried to hold back his tears, "I first met this Piranha Plant when I was a young boy on the side of the road. It was separated from its family, and we thought it would be for the best to help bring it home and take care of it. My Piranha Plant has really overcome so much adversity since then. Growing up, it was such an outsider. At school, it was the only piranha plant in a room full of Toads, and Goomba, and Shy Guys, and all its ever wanted to do was join _Super Smash Brothers_ , so it's here to achieve that dream."

Little Mac began to cry, "T-that was just so beautiful. Thank you for that."

Samus lifted her eyebrow, "It went to school with you, yet it doesn't know how to speak? Can you explain why that is?"

Peach put her hand of Samus's shoulder, "Samus, you don't understand. Piranha Plants don't speak English. They can't."

"Okay, but how did it graduate from school if it couldn't speak English, like, at all? In a school that I would assume has classes that are exclusively taught in English?" Samus asked.

Shy Guy responded, "I said it went to school. I never said that it graduated from school."

Samus pursed her lips, "Alright, no further questions. I mean, a lot of further questions, but just too many to really, to be honest. No idea where to begin."

Peach smiled at the piranha plant, "The Mushroom Kingdom truly never respects piranha plants as they should. I believe that if this goes well, this could be a chance for some real change in the public's perception of piranha plants."

"Okay, question for you, Peach," Samus immediately responded, "Why don't you just do something about it, if you care so much? You're basically a government official, aren't you?"

"Oh," Peach gasped, "I guess I technically am. I mean, I'm usually captured or busy with _Mario Kart_ or _Smash Brothers_ so I don't really have the time to do actual work."

"Of course you don't."

Little Mac interrupted, "Hey, let's actually see this audition happen, why don't we? I have a great feeling about this one."

Samus crossed her arms and muttered, "I definitely don't, but whatever."

Luigi began to walk on the stage, with no enthusiasm. Shy Guy halted the man in green, "You don't have to fight my Piranha Plant, I've been preparing for this moment."

Luigi fixed his cap and sighed of relief, "Great, that means I can get out of her instead!"

As Luigi ran off, Shy Guy and the piranha plant were planted on their spots on stage, facing each other. Piranha plant got closer to Shy Guy and began to headbutt his friend. It didn't hesitate to continue its attacks as it lunged forward and bit onto Shy Guy's leg. The Shy Guy made a slight grunt in pain, but continued to give its encouragement, "That was great! Keep going!"

So the piranha plant continued: It's red and white appearance transformed into a black and red spiky piranha plant, smacking Shy Guy in the face. Shy Guy fell to the floor and face planted onto the stage. His white mask fell off. Without moving his face, he reached out for his mask and turned away from the small crowd to put the mask back on his face. He was ready to take on more.

Piranha Plant spit out a giant black spike ball. It took a deep breath and turned its head upwards. As the ball began to head back toward Piranha plant's face, it began to blow what seemed to be a solid gust of wind, allowing for the spike ball to stay up in the air. It then moved its head slightly and aimed the spike ball at Shy Guy. Pirahna Plant shuffled quickly toward Shy Guy, its tongue wideout, flapping back and forth. Piranha Plant jumped up slightly, and aimed the bottom of the pot toward Shy Guy, hitting him right in the face again.

Piranha plant jumped up and twirled its leaf hands, causing it to fly up in the air. It then stretched out its tiny legs to hit Shy Guy while he was down. As Shy Guy tried to get up and regain his balance, Piranha plant emit a cloud of poison that caused some damage as well. Afterward, Piranha Plant grabbed onto Shy Guy and threw him around the stage.

By then, Piranha plant decided it had shown a wide enough arsenal of moves and shuffled back to the center stage. Shy Guy, who was clearly a little dizzy and out of it from all of the attacks he sustained, walked over by Piranha Plant and bowed as well.

"Are you okay?" Pit asked Shy Guy, "Would you like some water or something?"

Shy Guy shook his head, "I'm all good. I've had a lot of practice being its punching bag, so I'm cool as a cucumber," his voice was a little stuttered. Pit had a feeling that Shy Guy was fibbing, but didn't say a word.

"Well, that had to be the weirdest audition I have seen yet," Pit began, "But...I _loved_ it. This is such an out of the box fighter, it's going to be so cool to see it in action. I think people will love to hear that a Piranha Plant, of all things, has made it into _Smash Bros._ Nobody will even guess it!"

Little Mac nodded and smiled, "This was my favorite audition, of all of the auditions we've sat through. It was really fun to watch, and Piranha Plant's story is just so inspiring. I'm so moved and I hope that the judges agree that you _have_ to be in!"

Samus sighed and put her face in her hands, "Alright, I admit it. I liked it. It's just that this seems so...ridiculous, and I can't take it seriously. I'm at such a loss for words right now."

Peach smiled and put her hand on her heart, "I'm so proud of you, Piranha Plant, for working this hard to make your dream come true, and I think it truly will. I'm impressed, Pit's impressed, Samus is _surprisingly_ impressed, and Little Mac is _definitely_ impressed. Even if Fox disagrees, the rest of us have your back."

Fox sighed and looked straight toward the Piranha Plant, "I see that none of my colleagues are really talking too much about the moves that you bring to the table, so I will. While a lot of them definitely seem...unconventional, they were creative and out of the box, and not like anything we've ever seen before. We try to include as many different, original fighters into the roster, and you bring something that nobody else does. Plus, it's an iconic character that people know all about. Can I just ask, before we forget, what ideas there were for a Final Smash?"

"Piranha Plant turns into Petey Piranha and begins to wreak havoc on the stage. That's all we've really got right now," Shy Guy responded, timidly. "I hope this doesn't ruin Piranha Plant's chances or anything."

Fox nodded, "It doesn't. It's a simple description, but we don't need a fully fleshed out explanation on exactly how much damage Piranha Plant can cause."

Shy Guy wiped the sweat off of its head, "Phew!"

Fox continued, "Let me just explain something to you both, however. We've been told that we only have one more slot left for the roster, and whoever we choose, probably won't actually be able to join the fight until January or February, about one to two months after the fight begins. Does Piranha Plant mind not actually being the first DLC character rather than being part of the main roster?"

Piranha Plant clapped its hands and jumped up and down, the judges took that as happiness. Fox wrote a note down before announcing, "Alright, all in favor of including Piranha Plant into _Ultimate_ say I!"

"I!" Peach, Fox, Little Mac, and Pit said in unison.

All four judges stared at Samus, who was still flabbergasted, before she sighed, "Ugh, I!"

Fox looked back to Piranha Plant and Shy Guy, "Well, it's unanimous! Piranha Plant, congratulations! You're in _Smash Bros. Ultimate_!"

The judges all began clapping as Piranha Plant had an even bigger smile on its face. Shy Guy hugged Piranha Plant, shouting the words, "I'm so proud of you!"

The judges all got out of their seats, Shy Guy assumed it was a standing ovation and began bowing. However, the clapping began to die down. Fox squinted at Shy Guy, "We're actually getting out of here since we're officially done with building the roster. Congratulations Piranha Plant, we'll be seeing you at our orientation in late November."

"Oh," Shy Guy muttered. He looked back at Piranha Plant and cheered lightly, as they both walked off of the stage.

The room now just had the five judges, standing around in a circle. Fox looked down at the ground and smile, "It's been a fucking week guys, but it's finally over. We have our roster."

"It's been a wild journey, thanks for letting me be a part of this, I would definitely do it again," Little Mac admitted.

Peach smiled, "This was a real treat, Fox, thank you for inviting me to be a part of this. I feel much closer to all of you, and I can't wait to lie to myself and say that I'll spend more time with each and every one of you more now!"

Pit sighed, "I'm kind of sad about it guys, it's over."

Fox laughed, "Pit, what are you talking about? This is just the beginning!"

Samus gagged, "Oh my god, that has to be the biggest cliché I have ever heard, Fox. Ugh, so gross!"

Samus opened the exit door, and the judges followed behind her. The lights all turned off. The audition room was no longer needed. At least not for a long while. As gross and dusty and bent out of shape the room was, it was a place for each potential fighter to share their story. It was going to be a long while before another pair of feet stepped echoed on the stage, ready to introduce themselves before a panel. The room was now completely pitch black, and nobody would be stepping foot in there anytime soon.

* * *

Meanwhile, in the lobby, Captain Falcon walked around with a megaphone in hand, "Attention to everyone still waiting to audition. We have filled our last slot, and unfortunately, this means we are no longer holding auditions for _Super Smash Brothers: Ultimate_. Thank you for your time, and sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused you."

A blue bounty hunter, sitting at one of the soft blue chairs with a magazine in hand scoffed, "Are you kidding me? I've been here all week and nobody even gave me the chance to audition! What the fuck is that all about?"

Captain Falcon shrugged, "Sorry, Sylux, that one's on you. If you had shown some initiative and pinned one of us down, you would have gotten your chance."

Sylux scoffed, got out of his seat and walked out of the building, muttering curse words under his breath. Captain Falcon put his hands on his hips and smiled as everyone walked out of the building with their heads hanging low, "Huh, maybe I should've told them that there are some DLC slots open. I guess they'll figure it out."

Captain Falcon walked out of the building, behind the small crowd, and locked the doors behind him. This audition building was officially a ghost town.

Now began the wait until _Ultimate's_ orientation in November.


	22. The Auditions End, The Battles Begin

**A/N:** _Ultimate_ is out and available to the public, and now I'm really jealous because I have to wait until Christmas to get my hands on it! However, we've finally reached the end of this fanfic, and I've enjoyed writing this. I had a bit of trouble executing this chapter, and I'm sure there's a ton more that I could have done, but I hope you enjoy the chapter regardless!

* * *

 **Chapter 21 – The Auditions End, The Battles Begin**

Months had passed since the auditions for _Super Smash Bros. Ultimate_ and with the start of the battles starting in just over a month, it was now time for orientation. Unlike the auditions, which took place in a small, dilapidated building that was clearly not meant to handle huge crowds, orientation took place in a giant, and very sleek office building. From the exterior, the building is tall and grey, surrounded by cedar and spruce trees. The glass doors to the building had the _Smash Bros_ logo on display in black, and right above those doors was a sign welcoming everyone involved in _Super Smash Bros._

Pit and Little Mac walked into the building early on a Monday morning, both clearly tired, but also ready and excited to take on a new iteration of _Smash._ They both walked up to the front desk, their feet touching the thin navy blue carpet. A toad standing at the front desk smiled and waved at the two and pointed them toward the elevator.

As they both stepped into the elevator, Pit took a deep breath and smiled, "I've been looking forward to this since the auditions have ended. I can't wait to reunite with everyone!"

Little Mac smiled and nodded, "Yeah, but let's be honest, orientation can also pretty boring. I just want to fight."

The elevator reached the fifth floor, and as both Little Mac and Pit walked out and headed toward the hall, they walked into a small theater, with a little under one hundred seats, most of which were empty. After all, it was only eight in the morning, and the orientation didn't start for another hour. The only character in the room was Isabelle, who was sitting front and center in a black cushioned seat with a notebook in her hand. She smiled and waved to Little Mac and Pit, "I'm so excited to see you guys again! I'm ready to take on orientation!"

Little Mac raised his brow, "How long have you been here? You're so early!"

The dog giggled, "I've been here since four in the morning and I'm doing _great!_ I was just so excited that I couldn't wait! Plus, I wanted to make sure I was all prepared so I brought my handy-dandy notebook to make sure I'm prepared for anything and everything you guys throw at me!"

Pit laughed as he and Little Mac took seats in the second row, right behind Isabelle, "It's great that you're so excited, but you don't need to be _this_ over prepared. It's not like we're going to quiz you."

"I know that," Isabelle laughed, "But I just want to make sure that I remember every little detail you guys throw at me, I'm sure there's a lot to remember!"

Little Mac shrugged, "Well if it makes you feel more at ease, go for it. I'm sure Mario will appreciate the dedication."

As the hour passed, a couple of fighters began walking into the room. Peach was the next to walk into the room around 8:24 with Daisy, Luigi, Yoshi, and Mario following her. Mario noticed Isabelle sitting front and center and waved, "So great to see you again, Isabelle!"

Isabelle waved back, "So great to see you, Mario!"

Mario walked up onto the platform in the front of the room and headed toward the computer toward the edge. Peach, Daisy, and Luigi sat toward the left side of the theater. Peach walked over toward Pit, Little Mac, and Isabelle and muttered, "Just warning you guys now, Mario prepared a PowerPoint, and it's...it's going to be really rough. Just wanted to warn you all."

"Ugh, again?" Little Mac whispered back, "Is it at least an interesting PowerPoint? He's not just going to read off the slides, right?"

Peach shook her head, "He made the PowerPoint last night and hasn't practiced it at all, so you can guess how boring it will be."

Isabelle turned her head over toward Peach, "I'll give him the benefit of the doubt. I'm sure he'll do great!"

Peach giggled, "You're going to be really disappointed, Isabelle." She walked back toward the other side of the room, where Luigi and Daisy were whispering to each other. Peach sat right next to Daisy, "So, I'm not sure if Luigi has warned you, but orientation is really long with a huge list of unnecessary workshops."

Luigi nodded, "It's worth it in the end!"

Daisy took her phone out of her small, yellow purse, "Is there anything that Mario shares that's worth paying attention to?"

Peach sighed, "No, but he always tries to do an icebreaker that just gets worse and worse every time."

The crowd of characters continued to grow more and more. Samus and Fox walked in around 8:45 with Snake and Falco, sitting right in front of Peach, Daisy, and Luigi. Samus turned her head to see Peach sitting right behind her and sighed, "Why do I always end up sitting near you during these things, Peach?"

"It's because you just naturally gravitate toward me. I mean, who doesn't honestly?"

"Uh, yeah, that's definitely not right," Samus groaned. She turned her head back over tow Snake, who was sitting right next to her, "Happy to be back?"

Snake stroked his chin, "I guess so. Never thought you guys would even consider inviting me back."

"Yeah, I know, you're pretty annoying," Samus responded, with sarcasm in her voice.

Falco rolled his eyes and whispered to Fox, "Are he and Samus going to be like this all the time? I like Samus more when she's not flirting with Snake."

Fox shrugged, "Don't we all?"

By nine, the seats were all filled by all of the fighters in _Ultimate_ , with a couple of seats on the edges of the room still open. Mario looked out at the room full of characters, all talking amongst themselves. Mario then began to clear his throat, "Alright, everyone, let's begin!"

Unfortunately for Mario, his voice was not heard over the crowd. He cleared his throat again, but to no avail. Finally, Little Mac finally got out of his seat and shouted, "Can everyone just shut the _fuck_ up and let the man speak?"

Everyone's voices began to slowly dissipate as they turned their attention toward Mario, who stood uncomfortably in front of the room. Mario took out the flashcards in his pocket and squinted at his poor handwriting, trying to figure out what he was supposed to say, "Wel...come to _Super Sma...sh Brothers Ultimate_! We're so ex...cited...to _have_ you...all here!"

The crowd reluctantly clapped as Mario slowly spoke. Fox put his hands on his forehead and looked down toward the ground, "This is going to be painful," he whispered to Falco, who nodded in agreement.

"Let's...uh...let's um...let's start with an icebreaker. Let's all say our name...um...our series, and uh...let's go with a favorite food. How about that? My name is Mario, I'm from _Super Mario Bros,_ and my favorite food is spaghetti! Who's next?"

The room was silent as everyone looked at each other uncomfortably. Fox sighed and immediately got out of his seat, standing next to Mario on the platform, "Mario, I think we can all agree, this is pretty painful. So instead of making everyone spend their Monday morning watching this trainwreck, I'll just...speak from the heart. How about that?"

Mario sighed, "Thank you, I'm so woefully unprepared." He walked off the stage and took his seat. Fox crossed his arms, "It's all good, buddy, we understand you have a lot on your plate."

Fox looked out at the crowd and took a deep breath and continued, "Alright, so hello again everyone. This is day one of our _Ultimate_ orientation! Who's excited?"

The crowd slowly started clapping before breaking out into a small cheer. Fox crossed his arms and nodded his head as the applause died back down, "Let me just say that when Mario, Donkey Kong, Link, Samus, Kirby, Pikachu, Yoshi and I started this back in 1999, we had no idea it would grow to be _this_ large! It's truly crazy."

As the cheers made their waves again, Fox continued, "So, as I'm sure you all know, I've been on the panel of finding newcomers for each iteration of _Smash Brothers_ , and it's truly a rewarding experience. Actually, can all of our newcomers stand up and introduce themselves? Just so us veterans can put some faces to names maybe?"

Eleven fighters arose from their seats and looked around at the room. Isabelle turned toward the crowd and waved, "It's so nice to meet all of you. I can't wait to become great friends with everyone here!"

King K. Rool, who was sitting toward the back of the room, next to Dark Samus and Ridley bowed, even though nobody was really looking toward him, "Good morning, peasants! I'm King K. Rool, basically, your only rival that truly matters, and frankly, these seats are extremely uncomfortable. I'm frankly disappointed that these seats don't have enough room for my ample rump!"

Fox's smile turned uncomfortable as the introductions continued. Daisy stood from her seat and cheered, "Hi, I'm Daisy! I'm _basically_ the first echo fighter in _Smash Bros._ "

Ken, sitting right behind Daisy chuckled, "Yeah, sure, _you're_ the one who invented the term echo fighter."

Lucina scoffed, "I'm basically the first echo fighter here, I don't know what _she's_ talking about."

"No, I'm the first echo fighter," Dark Pit argued.

Dr. Mario, sitting next to Mario, stood up from his seat, "Actually, I'm the first echo fighter. People loved Mario so much in _64_ that they cloned him and created me!"

"Um..." Luigi began, "Some may argue that _I'm_ the first echo fighter. I basically borrow all of my big brother's moves."

"Okay, you know what?" Fox started, "This isn't really a competition. Can you all sit down and shut up?"

Simon and Richter stood up, "We're the Belmont twins," Simon began. He pointed over to Richter, "That's Richter, I'm Simon. He's my echo fighter!"

"Though, some may argue that I'm the original fighter, and Simon's the echo fighter. Who knows who's echoing whom," Richter answered.

"Who knows if anyone really cares?" Fox asked. "Anyone else need to introduce themselves or are we just going to move on?"

Inkling jumped out of her seat, "What's up? I'm Inkling, and I can't wait to beat ya'll up in the battlefield."

"Charming, really," Fox smiled, crossing his arms a little tighter, "Who else?"

Ridley began to roar from the back of the room, and Dark Samus joined in with a deep, evil laugh. Fox nodded, "Yes, that is Ridley and Dark Samus, everyone. They are also here."

Chrom stood from his seat and timidly bowed to the crowd. "Good morning. My name is Chrom from _Fire Emblem_ , and I'm happy to be here."

That left just Incineroar, who sat near the other Pokémon, and stood up, shared a cheeky smile, and made vague grunts. Fox gestured over toward Incineroar, "That's our new Pokémon rep, Incineroar. We're looking forward to seeing him, and the rest of you newcomers on the battlefield. Additionally, we have some DLC fighters who will be joining us in due time. We have a Piranha Plant who will be joining us in December, and also just got word recently that the Joker from _Persona 5_ will also be joining eventually."

"I'm sorry," a light voice interrupted. The interruption came from Rosalina, who quietly sat behind Mario, her yellow Luma sitting on her lap. "Did you say a Piranha Plant is going to be joining the fight?"

Fox looked Rosalina dead in the eye, standing completely still, "Uh, yeah. Why? Is that a problem?"

"Just wanted to make sure my ears were working."

Fox gave a thumbs up as he continued slowly moving around the stage, "Great, so we can move on now, right?"

The crowd didn't object as Fox began to continue, "So, basically, I'm just going to make this short and sweet, because I wasn't expecting to be up here speaking and am not actually sure what needs to be covered, but welcome everyone! We're here to represent the history of _Super Smash Bros._ This is going to be the biggest and best one yet, and we're not pulling out any punches."

Peach interrupted, her teeth slightly clenched, "Yeah, well except for online, we could probably do that a little better."

"Well, besides that," Fox responded, "We're going to get you all ready whether this is your first _Smash Bros,_ or your sixth one. We're going to train everyone to make sure you're all ready in December. Got it?"

The crowd cheered once again and Fox smiled, "Well then, what are we waiting for? Let's get started!"

The crowd of characters got out of their seat and fumbled towards the door. Fox stayed behind to avoid the giant bottleneck ahead. He gestured for Pit, Peach, Little Mac, and Samus to stick around. The five remained in the small theater-like room, as Fox took a seat at the edge of the stage. "I just wanted to say that I actually really appreciated working with you all on the auditions, and that all of our hard work really paid off. Looking forward to beating you all up on the battlefield again."

Little Mac laughed obnoxiously loud, "Well, I'd like to see you try."

Samus crossed her arms and smiled, "I can't believe I'm saying this, but I appreciate you guys. You all still annoy me a little bit though."

"Okay, I'm over the sentimentality. It's getting really cheesy, can we go already?" Peach asked, turning toward the door. "See you all out there."

The others raced after Peach, but Fox stayed behind and stared at the small room. He glanced over at the noise-cancelling dark walls, and looked up at the spotlight on the platform that one might call a stage. The room was now empty again, and Fox's worthy opponents were all getting ready to fight. The auditions were long over, but the battle was just about to begin.

* * *

 **A/N:** One last author's note just to once again thank you all for reading and following over the past few months! I definitely wasn't expecting the following that I received while working on this. I started this mainly due to an excitement for _Ultimate_ back in June and a severe writer's block that made it hard for me to come up with new ideas to write about. I never thought that I would actually finish writing this, and it's all thanks to the people that have followed! This is the first fanfic I've written in years and the first one that I've ever finished. So thank you, and I hope you're all enjoying the new game!


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